SHE  COULD  NOT  READ  TO-NIGHT,  THOUGH  SHE  TEIED. 

(Frontispiece.     See  page  147.) 


JOHN  ANDBOSS. 


BY 

REBECCA    HARDING    DAVIS, 

ATTTHOB  OF  "LIFE  ix  THE  IKON  MILLS,"    "DALLAS  GALEHAI-TH."   "WAITIXO  FOB 

THB  VEKDICT,"  ETC.,  ETC, 


ILLUSTRATED. 


NEW   YORK: 

ORANGE    JUDD     COMPANY, 

845   BROADWAY. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1874,  by  the 

OEANGE   JUDD   COMPANY, 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


JOHN   AKDBOSS. 


M555074 


ILLUSTKATIONS. 

She  could  not  read  to-night,  though  she  tried Frontispiece. 

"Why,  Andross  drew  six  thousand  dollars  the  day  before  he  was  missing.". . .  32 

' '  Mother !    Mother  I"  he  cried.    He  was  turning  from  her  forever 126 

Braddock's  mental  anguish *^ 

They  fluttered  fearlessly  all  about  her.     She  and  they  seemed  to  belong 

to  the  bright,  pure  morning 

"Come  to  me  at    once.     A  great  danger  threatens    me  which  you    can 
avert.-A." 193 


JOHN    ANDBOSS. 


CHAPT-ER    I. 


THE  Niagara  Express,  just  before  sunset  at  the  close 
of  a  sultry  July  day,  was  puffing  slowly  into  Lock 
Haven,  a  small  lumber-town  which  is  the  key  of 
access  to  the  wild  mountainous  district  of  Pennsylvania, 
from  the  rich  coal  and  oil  valleys  below.  As  the  smoking 
engine  came  in  sight,  a  runner  from  one  of  the  inns 
hastily  pasted  up  a  written  placard  on  the  wooden  wall  of 
the  station,  where  it  would  face  the  car  windows,  reading 
it  aloud  to  half  a  dozen  lounging  men  and  boys  : 

"  '  Mysterious  Disappearance — /Supposed  Murder.'  A 

hope  it  a'n't  no  murder,  a'm  sure.  But ,"  gloomily 

wiping  the  paste  off  his  fingers  inside  of  his  trousers 
pockets,  "  Joe  Vanderpoelen  came  down  from  the  moun 
tains  last  night,  and  he  says  there's  them  there  as  hints 
of  suicide,  but  a  says,  ( For  what  reason?'  a  says.  <A 
man  don't  kill  and  bury  hisself  out  of  sight  for  no  reason 
at  all,  Joe,'  a  says.  A  always  did  like  to  get  at  the  com 
mon  sense  of  a  matter." 

"Them  Vanderpoelens  has  always  got  some  cock-and- 
bull  story  going,"  observed  the  station-master  scoffingly, 
squirting  tobacco  more  vigorously  as  the  train  approached. 
7 


8  JOH^   ANDROSS. 


"  This  a'n't  no  Vanderpoelen  story,"  patting  down  the 
wet  edges  of  the  bill.  "  Old  Judge  Maddox  is  down  his- 
self  about  it.  Hasn't  been  out  of  the  mountains  for  two 
years.  Sending  telegrams  right  and  left.  He  come  to 
meet  Doctor  Braddock  when  he  gets  in.  He's  looked  for 
on  this  train." 

"  Rough  news  for  Braddock." 

"So  a  says,"  eagerly.  "A  thought  of  him  first  one. 
A  just  sent  Jimmy  up  for  the  'bus,  so's  a'd  be  here  to 
break  it  to  him  myself  in  case  the  judge's  not  about. 
Never  do  for  him  to  hear  it  first  from  strangers,  or  by  the 
placards.  Hi!  here  she  is  ! "  as  the  train  came  up  along 
side  of  the  station. 

Dr.  Braddock  and  a  stranger,  a  large  showily  dressed 
man,  came  out  of  the  cars  and  halted,  as  people  do  in 
the  country,  to  watch  the  train  steam  leisurely  off,  leav 
ing  a  wavering  line  of  bituminous  smoke  across  the  hot 
blue  sky.  The  bill-poster  stood  irresolute.  There  was 
always  something  in  the  gloss  and  primness  of  the  doc 
tor's  tall,  lank  figure  which  daunted  one  of  the  great 
unwashed,  but  to  come  off  of  a  long  and  dusty  journey 
immaculately  gloved,  and  with  such  snowy  shirt  cuffs  and 
a  high  beaver  hat  instead  of  a  slouchy  felt,  was  to  mark 
the  gulf  between  them  offensively. 

Dr.  Braddock  touched  his  hat.  "My  team  here, 
Joseph  ?  " 

"  No,  sir.  A'll  drive  you  up  to  the  Fallon  House  ? 
A'd  better  now  ? "  Joe  needed  to  bolster  his  courage 
before  he  offered  himself  as  a  sympathizing  friend  to  a 
man  who  touched  his  hat  to  him.  The  doctor's  compan 
ion  had  turned  his  bold  laughing  eyes  on  the  men  on  the 
platform,  called  one  of  them  a  lout  for  dropping  his 
valise,  and  so  was  hail-fellow-well-met  with  them  already. 
Dr.  Braddock  had  never  been  hail-fellow-well-met  with 
anybody  in  his  life. 

"No,  we'll  wait,"  he  said.    "  Andross,"  turning  to  his 


ANDBOSS.  9 

friend  with  a  polite  mannerism  that  tried  to  be  cordial, 
"  Andross  promised  to  drive  down  from  the  mountains  to 
meet  us.  I  depend  on  him  to  make  your  two  weeks' 
holiday  what  it  ought  to  be.  He  said  the  first  thing  to 
look  to  was  the  larder,  and  he  was  right  there.  The  air 
up  yonder  makes  a  stranger  ravenous.  It's  too  late  for 
venison,  but  he  promised  to  have  trout  and  partridges  for 
supper  if  he  scoured  the  Mttany  range  for  them.  Here 
he  is  ! "  as  a  wagon,  swung  low  for  mountain  roads,  and 
drawn  by  a  black  horse  dashed  down  the  dusty  street. 
"Why,  that  is  not  John!"  crossing  the  platform; 
"that's  the  judge." 

Joe,  afraid  that  his  ill  news  would  be  taken  from  him, 
hurried  after  him.  Braddock,  zealous  Presbyterian  as  he 
was,  was  known  to  be  so  irritable  a  man  and  so  easily 
rasped  by  trifles  that  Joe  had  a  curiosity  to  see  how  ke 
would  deport  himself  when  met  by  a  great  disaster. 

"  You  don't  observe  the  placard,  Doctor  ?  "  carefully 
standing  in  front  of  it.  "  '  Mysterious  disappearance. 
Murder  in  the  Nittany  Eange.'  Why  there  ha'n't  been 
such  eggsitement  in  Lock  Haven  since  the  war — no,  sir. 
Mr.  Andross  being  such  a  popular  man  too " 

"  Who  is  murdered  ?"  pushing  him  aside.  "  What  is 
this  fellow  chattering  about  Andross's  popularity  for  ?  " 
sharply  to  Judge  Maddox.  But  Joe,  whose  blear  eyes 
were  as  keen  as  a  ferret's,  noticed  that  the  doctor  was  not 
startled  by  the  ill  news.  "If  a'd  av  told  him  Andross 
hed  killed  hisself,  he'd  not  have  been  surprised.  He  was 
lookin'  for  ill  news  of  him,  take  my  word  for  that. 
Lookin'  for  it ;  "  he  told  up  in  the  bar-room  afterwards. 

Judge  Maddox,  who  in  his  blue  cloth  coat  looked  not 
unlike  one  of  the  round-bellied,  blue-painted  oil-barrels 
on  the  platform,  gently  patted  Joe  on  the  back  with  his 
pudgy  hand.  Murder  or  not,  there  was  no  need  of 
offending  a  possible  customer.  "  Ah  !  Joseph,  is  it  you? 
And  how's  that  mare  you  bought  do  ?  Balky,  eh  ?  Tut* 


10  JOHN 

tut !  Just  a  word  with  Dr.  Braddock.  Come  in  this 
office,  Clay,"  rolling  into  a  square  closet  where  a  man 
stood  writing.  ' '  Mr.  Stiles  ?  Just  give  the  doctor  and 
me  a  moment  here.  Got  rid  of  that  dyspepsia  yet  ?  Tried 
podophyllin  ?  Don't  dabble  in  medicines,  hey  ?  Eight, 
right  ! "  shutting  Stiles  out  of  his  office.  "  It's  Andross, 
Clay.  He's  gone." 

The  judge's  face  was  at  blood  heat,  but  he  did  not 
wipe  it.  It  was  noticeable  that  Dr.  Braddock  made  no 
exclamation,  and  before  he  spoke  at  all  shut  the  window. 
"  What  do  you  mean  by  gone  ?  Is  he  dead  ?" 
"  God  knows  !  How  can  I  tell  ?  Busy  at  his  accounts 
at  nine  o'clock  Saturday  evening,  and  walks  out ;  walks 
out  without  a  coat — in  his  waistcoat — leaves  the  blotter 
on  the  open  book,  desk  unlocked,  lamp  burning,  and 
never  comes  back.  Just  as  if  the  earth  had  opened  and 
swallowed  him.  Place  all  alight  from  the  furnace,  yet 
not  one  of  the  hands  saw  him.  I've  not  eaten  a  full 
meal  since.  Nor  slept.  Counted  the  clock  strike  every 
hour  last  night.  I  said  to  Anna,  if  Braddock  were  here 
some  of  the  horrible  responsibility  would  be  off  my 
shoulders.  You  and  Andross  being  just  like  brothers. 
Very  rare  to  find  such  friendships  between  Americans. 
Germans,  now,  are  more  addicted  to  that  sort  of  thing. 
Why  I've  seen  two  six-foot  red- whiskered  fellows  kiss  like 
school-girls ;  but  that's  not  Andross,  poor  fellow  !  It's 
wretched,  wretched  !  Got  such  a  turn  after  the  soup 
yesterday  thinking  of  him,  I  couldn't  eat  another  mouth 
ful.  Such  a  light-hearted,  jovial  fellow  you  know  ! 
<  Poor  old  baldhead  Elisha,'  my  little  Joe  called  him," 
chuckling.  "  I  checked  that  in  Joe  promptly.  Don't 
like  forward  children.  Well,  what  do  you  think,  Brad- 
dock  ?  I  telegraphed  for  the  police.  None  of  your 
country  bunglers — a  sharp  city  practitioner.  D'ye  think 
it  was  suicide  ?  Or  how  about  those  old  shafts  on  the 
ridge  ?  The  men  tell  me  there's  some  man-traps  near 


JOH3"   AKDEOSS.  11 

the  ore  banks  sixty  feet  deep.     Well,  what  d'ye  think, 
Braddock?" 

"  You  sent  for  the  police  ?    I  am  sorry  for  that." 

"  Hey  ?  You  don't  say  so  !  Why,  I  told  Anna  first 
words  Braddock  will  speak  will  be,  ( Have  you  sent  for 
the  police  ? '  And  you  really  think  we'd  better  not  have 
them  ?  Well  I  am  astonished  !  I'll  go  and  telegraph  at 
once  for  them  not  to  come.  Better  trust  to  our  own  wits. 
They're  a  pompous  lot !  Low,  uncultured  fellows 
generally,  dressed  in  the  little  brief  authority  of  billies 
and  white  -gloves,  you  see  !  Too  much  for  them.  Well, 
what  do  you  think,  Braddock  ?  Was  it  murder  ? "  his 
bulgy  gray  eyes  quailing  a  little. 

"  Murder  ?  What  possible  motive  could  anybody  have 
in  killing  Andross  ?  " 

"  Just  what  I  said.  Best-hearted  fellow  !  Wouldn't 
hurt  a  worm  !  The  old  shafts  now.  He  might  have 
wandered  out,  and  accidentally — there  would  not  be  a 
chance  for  him  there." 

"John  knows  the  Nittany  Eidge  thoroughly,  and  it 
was  not  likely  he  would  purposely  wander  beyond  it." 

Dr.  Braddock  paused  before  each  reply  as  if  to  choose 
his  words.  His  whole  bearing,  since  he  heard  the  news, 
had  been  noticeably  cautious  and  repressed.  Even  the 
judge,  whose  perception  was  of  the  dullest,  observed  this 
unwonted  reticence  in  the  usually  quick,  outspoken  young 
man.  He  was,  like  Joe,  disappointed  that  his  news  had 
produced  so  little  sensation. 

,     "I  thought,  Braddock,"  irritably,  "you  would  have 
some  plausible  theory  at  least  about  it  ?  " 

"Yes,  yes,  certainly.     Give  me  time." 

"You're  in  a  measure  responsible  for  Andross.  You 
stood  sponsor  for  him  at  the  Works.  It  was  on  your 
recommendation  I  put  him  in  the  office  ;  you  know  that." 

"Well,  you've  had  no  reason  to  regret  it,  Judge." 

"No,  not  till  now.     But  whatever  it  is  to  you  this  has 


12  JOHK   ANDBOSS. 

been  a  terrible  shock  to  me.  If  the  fellow  had  died  in  his 
bed,  like  other  people,  it  would  have  been  another  thing. 
But  at  my  age  a  man  is  shy  of  sensations.  After  fifty 
all  trouble  is  apt  to  go  to  the  liyer  or  bowels.  Jake  at 
the  mill  says  it  was  suicide  ;  but  that's  absurd." 

Braddock  was  silent. 

"  That's  sheer  nonsense.  What  trouble  had  that  fellow 
to  make  him  go  cut  his  throat  ?  If  he  had,  more  likely 
his  brain  was  affected,  and  he's  wandered  off  into  the 
mountains  and  will  turn  up  again  all  right." 

"  In  that  case  he  would  not  have  left  the  desk  open." 

"  Stuff  !  Do  you  suppose  if  a  man  is  so  mad  as  not  to 
care  for  his  life  he'll  care  for  my  cash-box  ?  " 

"Yes,"  promptly.  "There's  nothing  sticks  in  even 
the  maddest  brain  like  the  idea  of  duty — duty  that  has 
been  promised  and  paid  for." 

"  Oh  !  all  men  are  not  machines.  Nor  Braddocks," 
chuckling.  "You  might  go  hang  yourself  at  twelve 
o'clock,  but  you'd  wind  the  mill  clock  at  eleven.  Jack 
was  a  different  breed — a  different  breed,  sir.  As  jovial, 
jolly  a  dog  as  ever  I  knew,  especially  after  a  glass  or  two 
of  dry  sherry — he  always  took  his  wine  too  dry — but  as  to 
a  nice  sense  of  honour,  I  don't  know.  No.  I  don't  know 
about  that,  Clay." 

The  doctor  crossed  the  room  and  tried  the  door. 

"Not  so  loud,"  he  said,  irritably.  His  mouth  was 
parched,  and  he  had  the  uncertain  haste  of  movement  of 
ahorse  that  has  been  under  the  curb  too  long.  "You 
forget,  Judge,  that  Andross  was  my  friend,  and  that  in 
all  likelihood  he  is  dead." 

"  "Why,  nobody  heard  me.  "Who  is  that  strange  fellow 
that  came  with  you,  anyhow  ? " 

"  His  name  is  Ware.  A  poor  devil  of  a  newspaper  man 
out  for  a  holiday." 

"  And  what's  he  here  for,  eh  ?    Wants  to  write  up  the 


JOHX  ANDROSS.  13 

Works,  I  suppose  ?  I  want  nothing  written  about  the 
Works.  I  want  to  run  the  business  clear  of  print." 

This  last  idea  had  apparently  banished  Andross  and  his 
mysterious  fate  from  that  fat  substance  inside  his  pulpy 
head  which  the  judge  frequently  mentioned  as  "  the  best 
brain  in  the  state,  sir."  Two  ideas  never  subsisted  there 
together.  Yet  it  was  a  serviceable  brain  in  its  way  ;  had 
served  to  amass  a  fortune  for  its  owner,  and  prompted 
him  to  show  kindness  to  every  unlucky  dog,  whether 
man  or  beast,  that  crossed  his  more  fortunate  path. 

' (  You  know  well  enough,  Braddock,"  he  muttered, 
( '  that  I  mean  to  keep  the  Works  out  of  sight  of  the  pub 
lic  until  Fm  sole  owner,  and  now  you  bring  this  interview 
ing  pump " 

"  He  never  heard  of  you  or  the  Works,"  said  Braddock, 
uncivil  and  blunt  as  usual.  "  He  wants,"  with  a  shrusr, 

'  O' 

"  to  interview  Nature.  He  has  had  a  great  deal  to  say  on 
the  way  up  about  the  Great  Mother." 

"  I  wish  him  joy  of  her  acquaintance.  There's  no  need 
for  him  to  meddle  in  this  mess  about  Andross." 

"No.  There  is  my  horse  and  wagon  at  last.  I'll 
drive  Ware  out,"  opening  the  door. 

"All  right.  I'll  keep  along-side.  This  ghastly  busi 
ness  has  knocked  me  up  so  that How  this  town  is  look 
ing  up,  hey  ?  There's  a  new  row  of  shops  now,  very  neat 
— very  neat.  Pay  eleven  per  cent,  I  judge.  But  oh  ! 
you're  off,  eh  ?  "  turning  to  find  himself  alone,  and  puff 
ing  slowly  out. 

Dr.  Braddock's  sallow  face  relaxed  as  soon  as  the  judge's 
"chud,  chud"  of  talk  died  out  behind  him.  He  halted 
.a  minute  on  the  vacant  side  of  the  platform  out  of  sight 
of  Ware  and  the  men.  He  was  a  man  accustomed  to 
fling  all  his  emotion  into  words  at  once.  Ill-conditioned 
and  bigoted,  both  words  and  emotions  often  were,  per 
haps,  but  always  quite  open  and  bare  for  God  and  his  f el- 


14  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

low-man  to  judge.     "  It  is  either  a  fool  or  a  knave  who 
must  have  secrets,"  he  always  said. 

Yet  a  secret  had  just  been  forced  on  him,  and  a  neces 
sity  for  controul  of  tongue  and  even  eye,  at  the  very  in 
stant  when  he  fairly  staggered  under  the  chance  that 
death  had  taken  out  of  the  world  one  of  the  two  or  three 
people  who  were  his  friends  in  it.  For  Braddock  was  as 
narrow  and  bigoted  in  his  affections  as  his  creed. 

Mr.  Ware,  however,  soon  cut  short  his  pause  for 
breath. 

"  Where  the  deuce  have  you  been,  Doctor  ?  Sick  ? 
You  look  pinched  about  the  nose  and  jaws.  Nothing 
wrong,  I  hope  ?  I  should  dislike  confoundedly  to  be  con 
fined  in  this  dusty  town  over  night.  I  catch  a  whiff  of 
the  mountain  air  already  !"  his  wide,  red  nostrils  expand 
ing.  "  Come,  come !  Let's  go.  Why,  I  looked  to  see 
you  all  fire  at  the  first  breath  of  your  native  hills.  You 
have  no  touch  of  the  Swiss  homesickness  which  should 
belong  to  all  mountaineers." 

"  There's  no  necessity  for  homesickness.  I've  only  been 
gone  two  weeks." 

"  Shall  we  go  ?  "  Mr.  Ware  drew  long  breaths  as  though 
his  chest  was  oppressed,  stretched  out  his  arms,  the  red 
rising  and  fading  in  his  large  thin-skinned  features.  His 
chest  was  so  broad,  the^grasp  of  his  arms  so  wide,  his  ex 
altation  of  feeling  so  assertant  that  even  Joe  repressed  his 
first  inclination  to  snigger,  and  looked  on  respectfully. 
"  Pardon  my  impatience,"  he  said,  wiping  his  forehead 
with  a  delicately  fine  handkerchief,  "  the  near  approach 
to  Nature  is  like  music  or  a  fine  picture,  it  affects  my 
nerves  like  an  electric  battery  and — a — .  Some  stamina 
is  lacking  in  my  bodily  organization  which  you  more 
phlegmatic,  bony  people  have " 

There  he  broke  off  abruptly,  turning  away  as  if  con 
scious  that  his  audience  would  not  understand  him.  It 
was  Mr.  Ware's  habit  to  make  his  small  talk  into  an  ora- 


JOHK  ANDKOSS.  15 

tion,  and  thus  break  off  abruptly,  his  fine  brown  eyes  gaz 
ing  rapt  before  him,  "  finishing  his  remarks/'  as  some 
coarse  joker  had  said,  "  to  infinity." 

Braddock  meanwhile  was  sponging  his  horse's  nostrils 
as  carefully  as  if  he  had  been  handling  a  baby.  His 
trouble  might  pinch  his  face  and  load  the  blood  in  his 
veins,  but  assuredly  his  nag  would  not  suffer  for  it.  Had 
he  not  been  rebuked  in  church  session  for  squandering 
time  and  money  at  horse-fairs,  and  it  was  even  hinted  at 
horse-races  ?  "He  ought  to  have  been  fed  two  hours  ago. 
You  know  I  never  drive  him  on  a  full  stomach  ! "  he  said 
to  Joe  so  fiercely  that  the  judge  called  from  his  wagon  : 

"  There,  there  !  Come,  Doctor,  I  want  you  to  be  up 
on  the  ground  early.  We  must  take  measures  to-night ; " 
and  added  aside,  "  What  are  you  hectoring  that  man  for, 
Clay  ?  he  might  be  of  use  to  you  yet ;  and  for  a  brute 
beast,  too  !  It's  unbecoming  a  professor  of  religion,"  and 
then  bowled  off. 

Dr.  Braddock  sat  stiffly  upright.  His  companion,  big 
and  buoyant,  had  an  air  of  laying  claim  to  ownership  of 
the  sun  and  all  about  him.  With  his  rolling  dark  eyes 
and  large  gesticulating  hands  he  gave  you  the  impression 
that  he  would  have  settled  himself  just  as  easily  on  Char 
lemagne' s  stone  throne  or  a  shoemaker's  bench  as  the 
buggy-seat.  Braddock  had  no  impression  about  him  ex 
cept  to  wish  heartily  that  he  was  back  in  New  York.  He 
had  hoped  this  crisis  would  never  come.  Now  that  it  had 
come,  it  needed  all  his  skill  and  well-known  friendship  for 
Andross  to  cover  it  from  ordinary  observers.  But  what 
could  he  do  with  this  fellow's  absorbing  eyes  and  ready 
note-book  in  pocket  beside  him  ? 

He  never  had  learned  to  alter  one  of  his  words  or  to 
conceal  a  look. 

He  found  out  presently  that  Ware  was  talking  to  him. 
Ware's  was  a  portly  orotund  voice  for  a  young  man,  but 
musical  withal. 


16  JOHN   AKDROSS. 

"  Yes,  it  was  an  old  master's  mate  gave  me  that  dress 
ing-case — thorough  type  of  the  old  Jack-tar,  as  you  find 
him  in  Cooper.  Bit  of  gratitude,  that  was.  I  heard  a 
man  was  down  with  Asiatic  cholera ;  went  and  offered 
myself  as  nurse.  Town  was  in  an  uproar,  but  I  brought 
the  man  through.  So,  after  his  next  voyage  he  brought 
me  this.  Chinese,  you  see,  complete.  Look  at  the  carv 
ing  of  that  ivory  and  these  inlaid  flagons.  But  you  don't 
care  for  such  things,  Braddock  ?  Now  I  do.  I  want  the 
commonplaces  of  every  day  to  be  aesthetically  shaped  and 
colored  before  they  touch  me.  I've  been  a  blacksmith  in 
my  day,  and  lived  in  the  ashes  and  dust ;  yet  it  pleases  me 
to  think  that  when  my  dead  bones  are  in  the  coffin,  white 
satin  padding  will  come  between  them  and  the  boards." 

"  Very  sensible  people  do  have  such  whims  sometimes," 
said  Clay  apologetically,  wishing  to  be  civil. 

"  Now  you  are  not  quite  callous  to  outside  impressions," 
in  an  encouraging  tone ;  "  not  quite,  or  you  would  not  be 
here.  Laird  told  me  how  you  studied  medicine  and  tried 
journalism,  a*nd  finally  left  New  York  to  be  clerk  in  these 
out-of-the-way  iron  works,  because  here  was  your  home. 
The  mountains  had  their  hold  on  you." 

"  I  wanted  to  make  money,  and  I  came  here  as  the 
most  likely  place  to  make  it." 

"  Laird  told  me  you  had  saved  some  money  and  were 
anxious  to  double  it  soon,"  with  a  quick  side  glance. 

Braddock  had  no  secrets.  ' '  A  trifle — but  my  savings 
for  three  years  :  about  seven  thousand  dollars." 

"You  ought  to  have  put  it  into  Laird's  hands.  It 
would  have  grown  like  weeds  in  a  barn  yard.  He  is  head 
of  a  ring  in  New  York  and  Philadelphia.  It's  omnipo 
tent,  sir.  It  holds  one  city  at  least,  lawmakers  and  law 
givers,  so — "  closing  his  large  fingers  on  a  dandelion  seed 
on  his  palm.  "Yes.  If  Laird  was  a  friend  of  yours 
your  money  would  have  yielded  a  thousand-fold." 

"  He  was  well  enough  disposed  to  me.      But  I  may 


JOHN   A^DROSS.  17 

have  had  a  prejudice  against  planting  my  money  in  such 
dirty  ground." 

"  Oh-h  ?  "  with  the  same  quick,  furtive  glance.  "  Well, 
I  have  had  just  such  a  fancy  in  my  time.  Porter,  the 
pork  dealer  in  New  Haven,  asked  me  once  to  go  in  with 
him.  A  sure  thing  it  was,  but  I  declined.  ( I  may  have 
stood  over  the  forge,'  said  I,  '  but  I  can't  see  the  name 
of  Julius  Ware  going  all  over  the  country  cut  into  greasy 
hams.'  Foolish.  But  I  have  these  idiosyncrasies.  Can't 
cure  myself  of  them  any  more  than  of  my  cleft  chin." 

Braddock  was  silent.  They  had  run  into  another 
blind  alley  of  conversation,  the  only  way  out  of  which 
was  that  by  which  they  had  entered — Ware. 

That  never-wearied  subject  sat  tranquil,  combing  his 
magnificent  red  beard  with  his  white  fingers,  and  glanc 
ing  alternately  admiringly  down  on  it  and  questioningly 
over  the  rolling  hills,  as  though  inquiring  whether  Na 
ture  knew  who  was  coming. 

"  Oh,  by  the  way  ! "  he  said  presently,  ' '  this  friend  of 
yours  who  was  to  have  provided  the  trout — Andross — has 
had  some  adventure,  they  say  ?  Missing,  eh  ?  " 

"Yes." 

"  Too  bad  if  there  has  been  murder  or  that  sort  of 
thing.  But  not  likely.  We  newspaper  men  know  how 
such  reports  grow.  He'll  turn  up  all  right.  Without 
the  trout,  probably.  More's  the  pity." 

"  Come  up,  Tom,"  said  Braddock,  with  a  queer  tight 
ening  of  his  lips. 

Tom  was  carrying  them  lightly  from  the  farm  lands 
into  the  higher  levels  ;  they  had  left  Judge  Maddox  far 
behind ;  the  sun  was  bright ;  a  cool  damp  wind  met  them 
from  the  forests  full  of  astringent  piny  smells.  Ware 
,  heaved  a  sigh  of  luxury,  threw  his  cap  down  at  his  feet, 
and  stretching  back,  clasped  his  hands  behind  his  head. 
He  never  could  be  still  a  moment.  He  had  been  the  best 
smith  on  the  forge  so  far  as  thundering  blows  went ;  now 


18  JOHI*   ANDEOSS. 

that  he  had  neither  hammer  nor  anvil,  and  was  cased  in 
by  broadcloth  clothes  and  an  education,  some  restless  force 
in  his  blood  worked  itself  off  in  incessant  motion  of  brain 
or  body.  Just  now,  his  brain  having  nothing  before  it  but 
Andross,  he  employed  his  body  in  what  he  would  have 
called  "feeling  of"  himself — the  mass  of  hair  (significant 
live  hair  he  knew  it  to  be)  ;  the  thick,  white  prize-fight 
er's  throat ;  the  white,  stubby-fingered  hands.  He 
glanced  critically  and  approvingly  down  at  his  brawny, 
well-shaped  legs  and  then  at  Braddock's,  all  of  whose 
members  unfortunately  had  a  lean  and  hungry  look. 

"But,"  appearing  to  remember  lazily  after  awhile  the 
subject  of  conversation,  "don't  you  think  now,  Brad- 
dock,  it  was  a  little  Quixotic  in  you  to  bring  this  Andross 
into  the  office  with  you  ;  to  adopt — christen  him,  eh  ?  A 
middle-aged  poor  devil  with  neither  kith  nor  kin,  I  hear." 

"No  ;  neither  kith  nor  kin." 

"  No  friends  but  yourself.  And  you  pick  him  up,  char 
coal  burning  and  half  starved,  and  get  him  work — should 
er  him  ?  Now,  I'm  one  of  the  most  impulsive  of  men,  but 
I  never  go  into  partnership  with  incompetency.  Never." 

"You  don't  know  Andross  or  you  would  not  use  the 
word." 

"  I  know,"  with  a  triumphant  laugh,  "  that  he  was  a 
man  of  education  burning  charcoal  at  middle-age  when 
you  saddled  yourself  with  him.     Depend  on  it,  if  a  man 
reaches  thirty-five  without  making  his  mark  there's  some 
\    part  of  the  machine  lacking.     I  wonder  what  scrape  the 
fellow  has  tumbled  into  now  ?    A  woman,  eh  ?    I  heard 
'  a  hint  of  that  at  Lock  Haven." 

"  Your  information  seems  to  have  been  minute,  Ware." 

"Oh  no  !  Just  a  few  words  of  gossip  with  the  men 
on  the  platform  while  you  swabbed  Tom's  mouth.  I 
don't  confine  myself  to  the  Brahmin  caste  for  my  friends, 
I  find  companions  among  soldiers,  priests,  and  Pariahs. 
Besides,  the  press  " — touching  himself  lightly  on  his  im- 


JOHK  ANDKOSS.  19 

maculately    glossy  white    shirt — "  absorbs    information 
above  ground  as  the  long-armed  polypi  draw  in  their  din 
ners  under  water.     And  it  is  about  as  hopeless  an  under 
taking  to  fight  one  as  to  fight  the  other,  eh  ? " 
(( I  suppose  so." 

Doctor  Braddock  sat  more  stiffly  erect,  while  his  com 
panion  lolled  back  again,  feeling  that  he  had,  by  a  lucky 
image,  put  the  relative  position  of  press  and  public  forci 
bly.  His  imagery,  hair,  beard,  legs :  here  was  unfailing- 
matter  for  contemplation  with  which  he  never  wearied 
himself,  and,  oddly  enough,  seldom  tired  his  companions. 
There  was  something  so  genial  and  responsive  and  full- 
blooded  in  the  intent  look  of  the  brown  eyes  and  grasp 
of  the  hand  of  this  big,  warm-colored,  confidential  fel 
low,  that  most  women  and  all  men  turned  to  him  with  a 
sense  of  relief  from  the  ordinary  mass  of  bilious,  abstract 
ed  American  citizens,  and  listened  with  interest  to  the 
lively  disquisitions  of  Ware  on  Ware.  Just  now,  how 
ever,  he  represented  to  the  man  beside  him  the  world  at 
large.  Braddock'  certainly  had  shouldered  Andross ;  and 
he  would  have  liked,  according  to  his  custom,  to  fight  his 
battle  for  him  with  a  few  furious,  telling  blows.  It  was 
terribly  hard,  he  thought,  that  he  was  forced  to  do  no 
thing  but  sit  passive  and  speak  inanely  in  monosyllables. 
As  for  Ware  and  the  press  or  the  world,  the  simile  held 
good  ;  they  were  like  flabby,  long-armed  polypi,  trying  to 
draw  his  secret  from  him. 

Stopping  to  water  his  horse  at  a  wayside  spring,  Brad- 
dock  heard  Judge  Maddox  signalling  him  behind.  Night 
was  beginning  to  fall,  and  they  had  just  turned  into  the 
gloomy  mountain  passes ;  the  judge  was  tired  of  being 
without  a  listener. 

"  My  wagon  is  stouter  than  yours,  Clay,"  he  said,  "  I'll 
take  Mr.  Ware,  if  you  choose." 

He  began  to  reflect  that  he  was  horribly  cut  up  just  now, 
and  Braddock  would  be  a  dull  companion  for  a  few  days 


ANDKOSS. 

until  this  miserable  business  was  settled,  and  Andross, 
the  only  good  company  on  the  mountain,  was  gone.  Be 
sides,  it  might  be  as  well  to  have  a  friend  in  a  newspaper 
man,  in  case  he  threw  the  Works  into  the  market. 

"  I'll  take  charge  of  Mr.  Ware  to-night,"  he  said,  after 
the  exchange  was  made,  "while  you  go  to  work  at  the 
mystery  ;  and  for  God's  sake,  Clay,  get  to  the  bottom  of 
it  to-morrow." 

Braddock  nodded  curtly,  and  they  drove  off ;  he  turn 
ed  the  horse  up  a  sharp  defile  which  would  bring  him  half 
an  hour  sooner  to  the  Works. 

"  It's  rough  011  you,  I  know,  old  fellow,"  he  said,  apolo 
getically  to  Tom,  just  as  if  he  had  been  a  man. 

Passing  a  gap  he  could  see  the  lights  twinkling  in  his 
mother's  window.  It  was  there  they  were  to  have  had 
supper,  and  he  thought  of  Jack,  as  he  had  seen  him  a 
dozen  times,  in  his  shirt  sleeves,  anxiously  broiling  the 
venison,  "  which  nobody  but  the  hunter  ought  to  touch," 
while  his  mother  stood  gravely  by,  dish  in  hand.  He  re 
membered  now  another  trouble,  which  this  news  had 
driven  out  of  his  mind  ;  the  difficulty  he  would  have  in 
satisfying  his  mother  that  he  had  done  wisely  in  refusing 
his  money  to  Laird.  She  had  known  Houston  Laird  when 
he  was  a  boy  in  the  Jersey  village  where  she  was  born, 
and  before  Clay  started  had  been  sounding  his  praises. 

"As  pretty  a  boy  as  you  would  see,  and  good-natured 
to  silliness.  No ;  he  played  his  marbles  and  mumble-the- 
peg  as  fair  as  need  be  ;  and  if  he  were  the  scoundrel  you 
say,  it  would  have  showed  itself  then.  Just  as  the  twig 
— you  know.  Sent  me  a  photograph  of  his  wife  when  he 
married — quite  the  family  man.  You're  too  suspicious, 
Clay.  Siiiy,  Houston  Laird  may  be,  but  he  has  nothing 
to  do  with  packed  election  boxes  and  Eings,  take  my  word 
for  it." 

His  mother  was  Scotch-Irish,  and  consequently  was  her 
own  pope,  from  rules  of  faith  to  the  colour  of  a  cap  rib- 


JOHK  ANDEOSS.  21 

bon  ;  religiously  loved  her  friends  and  hated  her  enemies. 
She  had  the  Scotch-Irish  thrift  too,  undiluted  by  Ameri 
can  swagger  or  generosity.  She  knew  to  a  dollar  the 
amount  of  Clay's  hoardings,  and  what  the  especial  chance 
in  life  was  that  he  hoped  to  command  by  them. 

"She'll  think  I  ought  to  have  given  it  to  Laird  to  turn 
over  for  me,  and  asked  no  questions,"  moving  uneasily  011 
his  seat.  "  But  it's  clean  now  anyhow." 

He  put  his  hand  in  his  pocket.  Braddock  had  his  mo 
ther's  blood.  At  any  other  time  he  would  have  enjoyed 
the  rustle  of  the  crisp  bank-notes  and  even  the  smell  of 
them,  and  the  plodding  back  over  the  last  five  years  to 
think  how  they  had  been  earned.  But  he  forgot  them 
now,  even  while  he  held  them.  Going  by  one  of  those 
gorges  of  the  Muncey  range,  in  which  the  mountain 
has  been  torn  asunder  ages  ago  by  volcanic  action,  he  look 
ed  into  the  chasm  between  the  shattered  walls  of  gray 
rock  rising  to  the  sky,  down  which  a  low  watery  moon 
threw  uncertain  shadows,  and  suddenly  saw,  as  in  a  vis 
ion,  Andross  lying  there,  his  face  turned  upward  to  the 
sky.  Who  knew  but  that  he  lay  in  that  very  chasm, 
"with  the  old  bulgy  check  suit  on  at  which  we  laughed," 
his  thoughts  ran  on,  "  and  the  torn  felt  hat  ?  Such  a 
slouching  follow  as  he  was  ! "  The  slouching,  yet  hand 
some  figure  lay  stiff,  with  a  bullet  through  the  heart,  it 
might  be,  or  a  cut  in  the  throat,  which  to  Braddock 
meant  worse  than  murder,  for  he  could  guess  out  of  what 
part  of  Andross's  hidden  past  the  stab  might  have  come. 
He  urged  Tom  up  the  rocky  path.  Horses  generally  filled 
too  large  a  share  of  the  world  to  this  narrow-minded, 
few-ideaed  young  fellow ;  but  just  now  there  seemed  to 
be  nothing  in  it  but  the  slovenly,  happy-go-lucky  man  who 
lay  dead  somewhere  in  these  gorges.  He  had  shouldered 
Andross  soul  and  body,  and  he  set  out  on  the  search  for 
him  with  much  of  the  same  feeling  a  woman  has  for  the 
child  to  whom  she  has  given  birth. 


JOHN   ANDROSS. 


CHAPTEE     II. 

rpHE  Works,  as  the  Gray  Eagle  Furnace  was  called, 
-*-  lay  under  the  shadow  of  a  spur  of  the  mountain. 
The  roofs  and  Falls  of  the  old  wooden  building,  gray 
with  age  and  charred  by  falling  sparks,  were  one  in  color 
with  the  limestone  rocks  about  them.  Dull  reflections 
from  the  smouldering  furnace  threw  bars  of  red  light 
through  the  rising  fogs  down  as  far  as  Bear  Valley.  The 
men  came  from  the  inside  and  stood  in  the  doorway, 
leaning  on  their  ash-rakes,  as  the  doctor  drove  up,  with 
the  curiosity  with  which  they  would  look  at  the  chief 
mourner  at  a  funeral,  though  every  man  there  knew  that 
he  understood  Andross  better  than  that  fellow  Braddock. 
As  for  the  story  that  had  been  whispered  about,  that 
Braddock  had  brought  him  originally  from  some  coalings 
in  Clinton  county,  that  they  could  swear  was  all  bosh. 
Who  ever  heard  of  setting  charcoal  burners  to  keeping 
books  ?  You  didn't  make  silk  purses  out  of  such  sow's 
ears  as  that,  and  Andross  was  a  silk  purse ;  the  very 
finest  gentleman  they  had  known  ;  a  different  make  of  a 
man  from  that  supercilious,  pious  prig,  Braddock. 

The  mystery  or  murder  had  warmed  all  Gray  Eagle  Gap 
into  a  genial,  excited  fellowship.  One  or  two  quarrels 
had  been  made  up,  and  double  drinks  had  to  be  taken  at 
the  usual  times  for  bittering,  such  was  the  heat  of  public 
feeling.  The  men  detailed  themselves  in  off  hours  in 
voluntary  searching  parties  ;  popular  prejudice  ran  high 
against  Maddox  for  not  closing  the  Works,  if  for  nothing 
else  than  a  mark  of  respect ;  a  dozen  times  a  day  some 
body  suggested  how  zealously  Andross  himself  would 


JOHK   AXDEOSS.  23 

have  gone  into  the  thing  and  scoured  the  mountains  day 
and  night.  It  was  a  thousand  pities,  as  Spellin  said,  he 
couldn't  have  joined  in  the  row  his  death  caused  ;  every 
body  felt  that.  Braddock  would  engineer  the  matter  as 
though  he  were  on  horseback  and  everybody  else  on  foot. 
Even  Spellin  the  superintendent,  when  he  came  out  to 
meet  him,  spoke  in  a  critical,  defiant  way.  His  broad 
jaws  were  a  shade  less  purple  than  usual,  he  having  lop 
ped  off  his  whiskey  a  glass  or  two  daily  since  the  occur 
rence  took  place.  He  nodded  gruffly. 

"  I  suppose  you'll  take  this  business  in  hand  now.  It's 
not  been  suffered  to  drag  so  far.  The  two  cricks  has  bin 
dragged  up  to  the  gate,  and  the  old  ore  banks  searched  ; 
but  there's  hundreds  of  worn-out  shafts  there." 

"Yes.     Very  good.     Yes." 

Braddock  was  trying  to  pass,  but  Spellin  filled  up  the 
doorway. 

"  In  my  opinion  the  place  to  operate  in  now  is  Bear 
Valley.  '1ST  there's  no  time  to  lose,"  sharply.  "  If  he's 
fell  inadvertently,  we  kin  yet  save  the  body." 

"  Certainly.     You're  quite  right,  Mr.  Spellin." 

"  You'll  go  up  to  Bear  Valley  right  away  then  ?  In 
fact  I  sent  the  men  there  to  wait  your  orders." 

"At  twelve  o'clock,"  deliberately  drawing  out  his 
watch.  "  It  is  now  ten.  I  have  business  in-doors  in  the 
meantime.  Don't  let  me  be  interrupted.  Good  evening, 
Mr.  Spellin." 

Spellin  turned  into  the  Works,  not  deigning  to  glance 
after  Braddock  as  he  crossed  before  the  furnace  to  reach 
his  office.  "  He  takes  it  as  I  thought  he  would,  cursedly 
cool,"  he  thought  ;  "  just  like  his  Scotch-Irish  blood  !  " 
But  when  one  of  the  men  hinted  the  same  thing,  he  sent 
him  with  an  oath  to  the  right  about  pretty  quickly. 
"  Bosses  "  might  be  disagreeable  to  each  other,  but  they 
must  preserve  the  prerogatives  of  their  order. 

Braddock  shut  the  door  and  locked  it.     The  room  in 


24  JOHK   A^DBOSS. 

which  he  stood  was  his  own  office  ;  inside  was  Andross's 
den,  as  he  called  it.  He  struck  a  light ;  he  had  driven 
with  furious  haste  to  come  here  ;  had  felt  as  though  he 
could  scarcely  keep  from  knocking  Spellin  down  as  he 
barred  his  way  ;  yet  now,  being  here,  he  trimmed  and 
re  trimmed  the  lamp,  threw  some  waste-paper  in  the  empty 
stove,  and  stood  with  his  back  to  it,  his  hands  behind 
him,  as  if  there  were  a  fire,  his  neatly  trimmed  whiskers 
oddly  black  against  his  pale  face. 

He  was  so  sure  of  what  he  should  find  !  He  looked 
about  his  square  office  as  though  it  were  new  and  unfa 
miliar  to  him.  There  was  a  queer,  suggestive  contrast 
between  its  trig  carpeted  comfort  and  that  den  beyond. 
Braddock  made  a  home  according  to  his  notions  of  a 
home,  out  of  even  that  twelve  by  fourteen  closet.  The 
stove  was  polished  ;  the  waste-basket  held  every  clipping 
of  paper  ;  desk,  inkstand,  pens,  were  in  faultless  order ; 
the  varnished  book-shelves  were  lettered  above  each  de 
partment.  History,  poetry,  belles  lettres,  etc.,  etc.  To 
be  sure,  there  were  not  often  more  than  a  dozen  books  in 
each.  Braddock  meant  to  have  a  complete  library,  and 
after  the  text-books  of  his  humanities,  had  begun  with 
English  standard  authors — Hume,  Addison,  Scott,  Chau 
cer,  etc.,  all  bound  alike  in  durable  calf — adding  to  them 
steadily  as  he  could.  That  a  book  suited  his  whim  or 
mood  never  yet  had  tempted  him  to  buy  it.  Time  to 
gratify  caprices  when  the  proper  solid  foundation  of 
knowledge  was  laid.  He  went  to  the  book-shelves  now 
and  took  from  a  locked  drawer  beneath,  the  sole  volume 
that  was  not  new  and  shining.  It  was  a  first  edition  of 
Dryden,  tobacco-colored  with  age,  the  edges  of  the  leaves 
clinging  in  dead  bits  to  his  fingers. 

When  Braddock  brought  Andross  to  the  Works,  that 
poor  creature  had  only  the  decent  suit  which  his  discov 
erer  had  bought  at  Belief onte  for  him  ;  at  the  end  of  the 
first  three  months,  therefore,  Braddock  handed  him  his 


JOHN   AKDROS3,  25 

salary,  advising  him  to  run  down  to  Philadelphia  and  get 
clothing  for  the  winter.  Two  days  after  Jack  dashed  into 
the  office  exultant,  and  unrolled  this  book  from  sheets  of 
tissue  paper. 

"  Look  at  that,  Braddock  !  Heard  of  the  auction  of 
old  Pepitt's  library  in  New  York  just  in  time  to  catch  the 
owl  train  arid  go  over.  I  knew  nothing  would  delight 
you  more  !  Just  look  there  !  "  his  eyes  sparkling  and  his 
fingers  unsteady  as  he  turned  the  mouldy  leaves.  "  A  first 
copy  of  Dryden,  '  Glorious  John '  !  There's  no  doubt 
it's  genuine,  sir,  genuine  !  I  know  this  very  book.  I 
was  with  Louis  Pepitt  when  he  bought  it.  I'd  back  that 
old  fellow's  eye  for  a  genuine  first  edition  against  any 
man's  in  America  !  and  Lord  !  what  a  palate  he  had  for 
wines.  His  decision  was  infallible.  There,  Braddock. 
I  am  so  glad  to  be  able  to  give  you  a  little  pleasure," 
looking  full  in  his  face  as  he  handed  him  the  book,  with 
his  blue  eyes  wet  and  bright. 

Braddock  would  very  much  have  preferred  a  new  copy, 
in  uniform  binding  with  his  other  books,  but  he  did  not 
say  so,  knowing  that  the  poor  fellow  meant  well.  The 
rest  of  his  money  he  had  laid  out  on  a  vase  of  rare  Vene 
tian  glass,  big  enough  to  hold  a  single  flower,  which  he 
carried  up  to  give  to  Clay's  mother.  He  was  a  happy 
man  that  morning.  His  miserable  or  terrible  past,  what 
ever  it  may  have  been,  weighed  no  heavier  on  his  light 
heart  than  did  the  shabby  coat  or  trousers  patched  at  the 
knees.  He  put  a  fern  leaf  or  two  in  the  vase  and  set  it  on 
Mrs.  Braddock's  mantel-shelf  between  the  two  enormous 
potichomania  urns  of  wax  fruit  which  she  had  made  her 
self. 

(i  I  know  just  wjiere  to  pick  up  such  things,  or  of 
course  I  could  not  have  afforded  it,"  he  said,  touching  it 
with  a  sigh  of  pleasure.  ((  Who  knows  now  but  this  may 
belong  to  the  days  before  the  Marano  work  ?  There  is 
not  a  hint  of  color  in  it." 


26  jom*  AXDROSS. 

' '  Oh,  Venice,  indeed  ! "  said  the  old  lady  vaguely.  "  I 
remember  reading  a  good  deal  about  those  doges  and  their 
underhanded  ways.  When  Clay  was  a  baby  I  had  more 
time  for  secular  reading  than  I've  ever  had  since. '  It  was 
kind  of  you  to  think  of  me,  Mr.  Andross." 

She  turned  the  vase  about,  looking  at  it  admiringly, 
though  secretly  she  thought  it  but  a  poor  thing,  smoked 
and  cloudy,  beside  her  real  cut  glass  decanters,  which 
Mr.  Braddock  had  given  her  just  before  he  died,  and 
which  were  locked  up  in  the  spare  chamber  cupboard 
with  her  red  and  gilt  china.  The  old  lady  prided  herself 
upon  her  taste,  and  when  Clay  brought  her  anything 
which  did  not  suit  it  ("and  Clay  had  no  more  eye  for 
colour  than  a  turkey-cock"),  she  laughed  at  it  and  him  ; 
but  she  would  no  more  have  so  hurt  this  Andross,  whom 
she  had  known  but  a  month  or  two,  than  she  would  long 
ago  have  thrust  pins  into  her  baby,  when  she  had  a  baby 
of  her  own. 

Braddock  could  not  help  thinking  of  all  this  now,  nor 
of  how  Andross  was  always  ready  to  go  with  his  mother 
to  the  little  wooden  church  to  listen  to  old  Macintosh 
during  the  long,  hot  mornings.  How  her  clear,  delicate 
voice  (Braddock  had  always  been  proud  of  his  mother's 
voice)  was  lifted  up  and  strengthened  by  Jack's  wonderful 
baritone !  When  the  two  sang  together,  all  the  rest  of 
the  congregation  halted  in  their  race  to  get  through  the 
tune,  and  Braddock,  who  had  no  ear  for  music,  felt  the 
tears  come  to  his  eyes  and  his  throat  choke  unaccounta 
bly.  He  believed  as  gospel  in  the  election  and  fore-or 
dained  damnation  which  Macintosh  preached,  but  he  had 
often  an  excuse  for  staying  at  home  ;  while  Andross, 
whom  he  suspected  of  being  an  infidel,  walked  regularly 
beside  the  old  lady  to  hear  the  curses'of  the  law,  cheerful 
and  light-hearted  as  a  child. 

He  was  a  child  in  too  many  of  his  ways,  Braddock 
thought,  going  into  his  den  and  carefully  turning  his 


JOHN    ANDROSS,  27 

back  upon  the  desk.  "When  he  had  money  to  buy  clothes, 
had  he  not  expended  it  all  upon  linen  fine  enough  for  a 
prince  of  the  blood  ?  The  fellow  dropped  money  as 
water  from  a  sieve,  for  any  whim  of  his  own  or  for  who 
ever  chose  to  fleece  him.  JSTo  use  for  Braddock  to  advise 
or  beg  him  to  put  his  salary  in  a  savings  bank,  to  insure 
his  life,  or  buy  western  lands,  or  to  tell  him,  as  an  exam 
ple,  of  the  seven  thousand  dollars  which  he  himself  had 
been  able  to  save.  Look  at  these  heaps  of  books,  now  ! 
Some  in  paper  covers,  others  in  costly  English  editions 
and  bindings,  thrown  pell-mell  in  the  corner  as  one  would 
orange  rinds  after  the  juice  had  been  sucked.  German, 
French,  Greek,  all  together. 

One  month  Andross  would  take  up  Descartes'  old  doc 
trine  of  naturalism,  and  argue  that  the  complete  man 
must  first  go  back  to  the  savage  condition  and  imbibe  all 
human  experiences  as  he  rose  slowly  to  civilization. 
"  Saint  Simon  had  the  idea,  but  was  a  coward.  Could 
not  carry  it  out,"  he  said.  The  next  day  he  would  be  en 
rapport  with  nothing  but  the  product  of  generations  of 
culture  ;  there  was  a  fine  flavor  of  repose,  he  declared,  of 
certainty  in  knowledge  and  assured  place  in  the  universe 
which  belonged  to  the  castes  of  the  Brahmin,  the  Fau 
bourg  Saint  Germain,  the  slaveholder  in  a  nation  ;  of 
course,  tyranny,  slavery,  all  such  things  went  to  make 
it  up,  but  wasn't  it  worth  the  whole  of  them  ?  A  costly 
thing,  but  all  good  things  were  costly,  etc.,  etc.  In  an 
hour  he  might  break  out  a  fiery  Radical  and  outrant  any 
red  bonnet  of  the  Commune  ;  for  Andross,  who  would 
nurse  a  hurt  dog"  for  weeks,  was  the  blood-thirstiest  of 
men  in  his  talk.  But  whatever  the  caprice  of  theory  or 
hobby  of  study,  the  books  were  not  spared  to  humour  it, 
and  once  having  served  their  purpose  were  thrown  aside. 

Braddock,  usually  as  hasty  of  motion  as  of  tongue, 
stood  hesitating  and  halting  through  the  office,  trying  to 
recall  all  these  faults  of  the  man — how  weak  he  was,  viv- 


23  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

id,  erratic  :  of  different  flesh  and  blood,  indeed,  from  the 
smart,  common-sensed  young  men  who  had  been  Brad- 
dock's  class-mates  in  college,  "  any  one  of  whom  would 
have  snapped  at  the  place  which  he  had  obtained  for  An- 
'  dress."  It  was  such  steady-going  hacks  that  were  fit  for 
work,  he  thought,  irritably,  and  not  John  ;  John  was 
like  those  winged  creatures  you  read  of  in  the  old  my 
thologies — you  never  knew  one  minute  whether  in  the  next 
they  would  be  soaring  in  the  clouds  or  grovelling  in  the 
mud.  His  vices  were  vices  of  the  blood,  perhaps  ;  and 
if  so,  hopeless.  The  clock  pointed  to  the  half  hour.  He 
had  tried  in  that  wasted  time  to  summon  all  of  Andross's 
petty  faults  before  him,  very  much  as  the  judge  looks  in 
the  face  of  the  convict  to  find  proofs  of  his  evil  nature 
before  he  pronounces  sentence  of  death  on  him. 

But  he  could  defer  his  work  no  longer.  He  had  al 
ready  heard  Spellin  tap  at  the  door  once  or  twice  and  go 
away  swearing  all  his  delay.  He  lowered  the  window- 
shades,  tried  the  lock  of  the  door,  turned  up  the  lamp. 
Then  he  put  his  key  in  the  desk  and  opened  it. 

When  Braddock  was  in  haste  to  catch  a  train  or  finish 
a  job,  he  fumed  and  trembled  with  anxiety  and  impa 
tience  ;  but  once  he  had  gone  out  to  save  a  drowning  man 
at  Cape  May,  and  he  had  when  making  ready,  they  said, 
been  the  coolest,  quietest  man  on  the  beach.  He  was  cool 
and  quiet  now.  His  hand  was  as  steady  as  that  day  when 
it  held  the  drowning  wretch  with  a  grip  like  iron,  now 
as  he  drew  the  account  books  out  and  opened  them. 

Nobody  had  access  to  these  books  but  himself  and  An- 
dross.  The  key  to  the  desk  he  had  in  his  pocket,  the  du 
plicate  had  been  left  in  the  lock  the  night  Andross  disap 
peared. 

He  turned  over  the  leaves  rapidly  :  when  a  man  knows 
what  footmark  he  is  looking  for  the  trail  is  easily  found. 
Here  in  May,  on  the  debit  side,  the  company  was  charged 
three  thousand  for  timber  :  the  last  cipher  was  of  paler 


JOHN   AXDIiOSS.  29 

ink  than  the  first ;  again  in  November  another  added  ci 
pher.  Both  marked  paid.  The  alterations  had  been 
made  within  a  week  ;  a  little  more  time  and  they  would 
have  been  as  black  as  the  original  writing.  Braddock 
closed  the  books,  took  up  the  lamp,  and  shifted  it  to  the 
other  side  of  the  desk,  set  the  blotter  and  pen-holder  in 
order,  glanced  furtively  from  side  to  side,  and  then  took 
from  its  inner  hiding-place  the  bank-book.  One  would 
have  thought  from  his  stealthy,  colourless  face  that  he 
was  a  thief  making  his  final  successful  haul,  so  strongly 
were  guilt  and  terror  marked  on  it. 

He  opened  at  the  last  cut  pages :  1 1  July  18th/"  the 
day  before  Andross's  disappearance,  a  check  drawn  for 
six  thousand  dollars.  There  was  no  proof  there.  The 
company,  of  course,  banked  in  Lock  Haven,  and  either 
Braddock  or  Andross  brought  up  the  money  for  the 
monthly  payment  of  the  hands,  or  the  debts  due  on  lum 
ber,  whenever  it  was  convenient  to  go  .down  and  return 
in  daylight,  not  deeming  it  safe  to  carry  large  sums  of 
money  through  the  wild,  mountainous  passes.  July  the 
18th  was  not  the  time  for  paying  the  hands,  but  there 
was  no  matter  for  suspicion  in  the  fact  that  Andross  had 
drawn  it  then.  The  fact  that  the  cash-box  was  empty 
proved  nothing  ;  for  only  the  two  men  knew  of  the  secret 
lining  in  an  old  unlocked  chest  of  drawers  in  Andross's 
room  where  it  was  their  wont  to .  put  the  money  until 
pay-day.  There  was  still  a  chance  ;  what  if,  after  all, 
he  should  put  his  hand  into  the  old  hiding-place  and  pull 
out  the  roll  of  notes  ?  If  it  was  empty  Andross  was 
dead.  He  would  never  live  after  he  had  been  dragged  so 
low  as  to  steal.  Braddock  lay  down  the  check-book,  got 
up  from  the  desk-stool,  and  crossed  the  room.  Heaven 
knows  what  spasmodic  whim  made  him  try  to  hum  a  tune 
as  he  went,  but  it  was  an  effort  ghastly  enough.  He 
pulled  out  the  rattling  drawer  (in  which,  for  precaution 
sake,  Andross  had  stowed  some  ragged  winter  clothes, 


30  JOHN   AKDEOSS. 

laughing  at  his  skill  in  blinding  the  always  expected  bur 
glar),  lifted  a  thin  board  at  the  back  and  thrust  in  his 
hand. 

It  was  empty  when  he  took  it  out. 

Five  minutes  afterward  an  authoritative  bang  came  to 
the  door,  very  different  from  Spellin's  rap. 

"  Braddock  !  Doctor,  I  say  !  It's  not  possible  the 
man's  asleep  !  Here,  it's  I." 

"  Coming,  Judge,  coming,"  unlocking  the  door.  Mad- 
dox's  round  figure  pushed  it  open. 

"Just  got  your  friend  off  to  bed.  Lord,  what  a 
tongue  that  man  has  !  Always  was  considered  a  good 
listener,  but  he  wore  me  out !  Mixes  a  nice  salad, 
though  ;  deucedly  nice.  You  might  as  well  have  come 
down  to  supper  as  stayed  drowsing  here.  Spellin  came 
to  say  somebody  had  better  be  sent  to  Bear  Valley,  but 
I  told  him  you  knew  what  you  were  about,  and  then  I 
just  walked  over  to  see  what  it  was  you  were  about." 

Braddock  not  answering,  the  judge  dragged  a  bench 
out  and  sat  down  on  it  with  a  thump. 

"  Hu  !  What  a  pull  up  hill  this  is  !  Here,  let  me  trim 
that  lamp;  your  hands  shake  like  a  drunkard's  that  hasn't 
got  his  bitters.  Well,  well.  No  wonder  it  knocked  you 

up.  Andross  was  as  good  a  fellow "  heaving  a  sigh 

and  smoothing  his  fat  little  legs  with  melancholy  strokes. 
"  Aha !  you've  been  looking  over  accounts,  eh  ?  Well, 
you  are  the  devil  of  a  fellow  for  business.  Newcome, 
down  at  Lock  Haven  this  evening,  was  running  me  pretty 
hard  about  leaving  my  affairs  to  you  and  Andross.  '  Any 
body  could  cheat  you  out  of  your  eyes,  Maddox,'  he  said. 
'  Always  could.'  'Just  the  reason,' says  I,  ( that  I  get 
these  fellows  about  me  whose  eyes  nobody  will  throw  sand 
in.'  Eh  ?  But  I  keep  a  sharp  look  out  myself,"  wag 
ging  his  head.  "  I  mean  to  go  over  the  books  with  you 
and  see  if  Andross  had  them  straight.  By  the  way, 
there's  the  check-book.  Meant  to  go  into  the  bank  down 


WHY,  ANDBOSS  DEEW  SIX  THOUSAND  DOLLABS  THE  DAY 

WAS  MISSING!  " 


JOHN   AtfDKOSS.  33 

in  town  to-day  if  I'd  thought  of  it.  Hand  it  over  here, 
Clay." 

Braddock  handed  it  over.  He  walked  quickly  to  the 
window,  and  stood  there  with  his  hands  thrust  deep  into 
his  pockets.  The  judge  spoke  to  him  once  or  twice,  but 
he  did  not  answer. 

In  his  right  breast-pocket  there  was  a  roll  of  green 
backs  which  he  had  taken  to  town  to  give  to  Laird.  He 
could  feel  them  pressing  against  his  chest.  It  seemed  to 
him  as  if  all  the  days  and  years  of  work  which  he  had 
paid  for  them  came  back  in  that  moment. 

When  he  had  drawn  these  savings  of  his  from  bank,  a 
short  time  ago,  his  mother  had  touched  the  money  with 
her  finger,  laughing  significantly.  "  There  is  your  chance 
to  marry,  Clay,"  she  said.  She  knew  very  well  that 
Clay,  like  most  quiet,  long-headed  men,  had  looked  for 
ward  to  marriage  since  lie  was  a  boy,  but  she  did  not 
know  that  lately  he  had  done  it  with  a  definite,  settled 
purpose.  So  definite,  that  these  notes  seemed  to  carry 
not  only  all  his  past  life  but  all  his  future  with  them. 

An  dross  was  dead,  of  that  he  felt  convinced.  To  pro 
tect  his  name  from  shame  was  he  to  give  up 

"  Why,    God  bless  my  soul,    Braddock,    here's  

Why,  Andross  drew  six  thousand  dollars  the  day  before 
he  was  missing  !  By  George,  this  puts  a  different  face 
on  the  affair  !  " 

"  In  what  way  ?"  Braddock  came  up  to  him  slowly. 

' '  He  did  not  leave  one  dollar  in  the  cash  box.  Not 
one  single  red  cent !  I  searched  it  myself."  The  judge 
was  standing  now,  the  blood  heating  his  flabby  face,  his 
voice  thick. 

Braddock  took  the  check-book  from  him,  the  leaves 
of  which  he  was  flapping  excitedly,  and  shut  it  quietly. 
"Andross  never  kept  large  sums  of  money  in  the  office, 
sir.  We  had  a  place  in  his  chamber  where  we  hid  it." 

He  stopped,  took  up  the  lamp  and  set  it  down  again. 


34  JOHN   ANDKOSS. 

"Well?    Well?" 

"  I'll  go  and  look  there." 

"  Yes.  Of  course,  go  and  look  there.  I  tell  you,  if 
that  fellow  was  a  thief,  after  all  - 

He  was  out  of  the  room  but  a  minute,  and  came  back 
with  a  small  brown  roll  in  his  hand. 

"  There  is  your  money,  Judge.  Six  thousand.  Count 
it  and  see  if  it  is  correct." 

The  judge  did  count  it,  wetting  his  thumb  and  filliping 
the  notes  down  on  his  knee  with  shaking  hands. 

' '  Six  thousand— yes.  All  right.  Well,  thank  God  for 
that !  It  wasn't  the  vally  of  the  money,  Clay.  But  I'd 
not  for  ten  times  the  sum  have  thought  Andross  a  thief. 
One  has  such  a  regard  for  that  fellow,  you  see." 

Braddock  stood  buttoning  up  his  waistcoat,  which  was 
open.  The  dull  light  made  his  face  ghastly.  "Yes, 
one  has  a  regard  for  him,"  he  said  quietly. 


JOHN   ANDEOSS.  35 


CHAPTER    III. 

"TTTHEN"  the  two  men  were  outside  of  the  office  and 
'  *  Braddock  had  locked  it,  the  judge  folded  the 
money  and  put  it  in  his  pocket.  "I'll  take  charge  of 
this  until  you  come  back  from  Bear  Valley,  Clay.  By 
the  way,  you're  to  stop  at  the  house,  and  take  a  cup  of 
coffee  or  something." 

"  I  haven't  time  for  that." 

"Anna  wants  to  speak  with  you  about  Andross." 
Braddock  went  without  reply,  as  a  matter  of  course. 
Anna  Maddox  when  she  was  a  baby  in  arms  had  been 
able  to  do  what  she  pleased  with  her  father  ;  he  had  had 
half  a  dozen  other  children,  but  none  of  them  he  thought 
had  a  hand  so  soft  or  eyes  so  innocent  and  affectionate. 
Every  man  or  boy  who  came  near  her  since  had  followed 
his  example.  They  might  love  other  women  better,  but 
it  was  she  whom  they  obeyed  ;  her  whims  that  they  de 
lighted  to  humour ;  they  wished  their  own  wives  or  sweet 
hearts  had  such  soft  clinging  hands,  or  knew  the  affec 
tionate  trick  of  her  blue  eyes. 

Braddock,  with  the  stunning  fresh  weight  of  his  sac 
rifice  upon  him,  with  the  thoughts  of  Andross's  dead 
body  so  real  that  he  felt  as  if  he  could  stretch  out  his 
hand  and  touch  it,  would  have  given  much  for  one  cheery 
word  from  the  woman  whom  he  meant  to  make  his  wife, 
but  would  not  allow  himself  or  her  that  comfort ;  yet  he 
gave  half  an  hour  to  Anna.  Any  other  man  would  have 
done  the  same.  Braddock  remembered  too  as  he  came 
up  to  the  door  that  his  trousers  were  muddy,  and  his  face 
unwashed.  Whereas,  if  it  had  been  Isabel's  door,  and  ho 


36  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

had  been  covered  with  Andross's  blood,  he  would  not 
have  once  thought  of  any  annoyance  or  feeling  she  might 
have  had  about  it. 

The  garden  through  which  he  passed  was  a  real  rest  and 
pleasure  for  any  hard-worked  eyes  and  brain.  Andross 
had  planted  and  kept  it  in  order.  Andross  always  said 
Anna  was  only  an  educated  Maud  Muller,  and  ought  to 
be  framed  by  all  the  gracefullest  simplicity  and  freshness 
of  Nature  ;  no  tree  but  the  elm  or  waving  willow  should 
hedge  the  house  in  which  she  lived  ;  no  flower  without 
perfume  should  bloom  in  her  garden.  The  very  lights, 
Braddock  thought,  as  he  knocked  at  the  hall  door,  burned 
more  softly  here  than  elsewhere  ;  the  lamp-shades  were 
of  Andross's  choosing  ;  the  bow -window  for  flowers  back 
of  the  hall  he  had  planned,  and,  in  fact,  for  lack  of 
carpenters  and  glaziers,  almost  built.  It  made  a  back 
ground  of  massed  colour  now  for  Anna,  as  she  walked  up 
and  down  the  matted  floor  waiting  for  Braddock.  The 
scent  of  the  flowers  was  faint,  her  dress  was  delicate  and 
cool ;  that  was  all  he  saw.  No  man  ever  went  away  from 
Anna  and  remembered  her  muslins  or  merinos  ;  they 
only  felt  as  never  before  that  they  had  been  in  the  pres 
ence  of  a  woman,  and  were  apt  to  talk  a  good  deal  there 
after  of  how  the  tenderer  sex  was  vine-like  and  helpless 
and  loveable,  and  to  think  of  themselves  in  the  relation 
of  an  oak. 

Braddock,  when  he  was  with  his  betrothed,  had  always 
been  so  busy  confiding  his  plans  and  consulting  her  that 
he  seldom  remembered  whether  she  was  a  good-looking 
woman  or  not,  but  he  noticed  the  face  of  the  judge's  lit 
tle  girl  every  day.  Sometimes  she  would  put  roses  or 
starry  white  flowers  in  her  curly,  light  hair,  and  so 
plumed  and  vaunted  herself  that  the  dullest  man  would 
be  enchanted  with  her  vanity,  as  apparent  as  that  of  a 
baby  just  beginning  to  be  conscious  of  its  body. 

To-night,  however,  her  hair  was  straight,  her  nose 


AKDEOSS.  3? 

pinched,  and  her  eyes  had  dark  purple  rings  about  them. 
She  hurried  up  to  Braddock,  the  moment  he  opened  the 
door,  in  a  timid,  fluttering  way  that  rendinded  him, 
modest  man  as  he  was,  of  a  little  boat  scudding  under 
shelter  of  a  man-of-war. 

"  You've  heard  it  ?"  she  cried  in  her  little  falsetto  of  a 
voice.  "  Oh,  Dr.  Braddock,  it's  so  dreadful — so  dread 
ful  !  You  men  can  bear  to  talk  about  him'as  dead,  but 
it  is  quite  a  different  thing  to  me. " 

The  voice  was  such  a  weak  and  plaintive  pipe,  she 
looked  up  at  him,  patting  her  hands  over  her  hair,  so 
helplessly,  there  was  such  a  bloom  of  youth  and  innocent 
passion  over  her  whole  delicate  body,  that  Braddock, 
with  all  his  Scotch  common  sense  and  coolness,  was  be 
wildered  with  a  new  rush  of  emotion.  He  felt  as  if  he 
had  not  half  mourned  for  Andross,  now  that  this  little 
creature  unconsciously  gave  him  a  glimpse  into  her  heart. 

"I  did  not  know,"  he  said  bluntly,  "  that  Andross  and 
you  were  lovers,  Miss  Maddox.  This  makes  the  matter 
worse,  and  God  knows  it  was  bad  enough." 

"  Oh,  no,  no,"  she  protested,  "  it  was  not  love  at  all. 
It  was  only  friendship.  But  if  he  is  dead,  what  shall  I 
do  ?  Oh  dear,  what  shall  I  do  ?  "  She  shook  with  her 
sobs  from  head  to  foot,  the  tears  rolled  over  her  small, 
pale-tinted  face  as  she  stood  looking  up  to  him. 

"  Tut,  tut ! "  said  Braddock,  and  took  her  hand. 

He  was  seriously  -pained  for  the  silly,  indiscreet  little 
thing  ;  but  what  the  deuce  had  the  judge  been  about  to 
allow  a  man  like  Andross  to  obtain  such  a  control  over 
her  ?  "Was  he  blind  ?  Of  course,  in  the  office  or  with 
men,  John,  though  taken  from  a  coaling-hearth,  was  fit 
for  any  place.  But  with  this  lovely  woman,  frail  and 
pure  as  a  white  rose-bud . 

"  Mr.  Andross  was  a  friend  to  us  all,  Miss  Maddox.  I 
am  going  now  to  Bear  Valley  to  see  what  can  be  done. 
In  the  meantime " 


38  JOHN   ANDKOSS. 


tt 


Not  was.  Don't  say  was  !  He  is  only  a  friend  to 
you,  but  he  is  all  I  have.  All!  " 

"  In  my  opinion/'  sharply,  "  that's  not  right.  Where 
is  your  father,  child  ?  Do  all  his  care  and  love  for  you 
go  for  nothing  against  this  how-window  and  flower-pots 
and  jimcracks  which  a  stranger  has  made  for  you  in  a 
year  ?  " 

She  drew  Back  from  him  with  a  certain  childlike  dig 
nity  which  had  its  force. 

"  What  are  his  gifts  to  me  ?"  with  an  indignant  ges 
ture.  "  He  was  congenial  with  me.  He  understood  me. 
No  one  else  does.  I  am  quite  alone  now.  You  do  not 
understand  what  I  have  lost." 

Dr,  Bracldock  looked  down  at  her  in  a  dumb  dismay 
and  then  he  looked — at  his  watch. 

"  If  there  is  any  chance  that  Andross  is  not  dead,  ev 
ery  moment  we  lose  may  be  worth  his  life.  I  must  go  at 
once.  Tell  me  what  can  I  do  for  you  ? "  stooping  over 
her  with  that  caressing  tone  which  all  men  used  to  Anna. 

"  Take  me  with  you.     It  was  for  that  I  sent  for  you." 

"  With  me  ?     To  Bear  Valley  ?    Impossible." 

"  It  does  not  matter  to  me  about  the  possibility,"  smil 
ing.  "  I  intend  to  go." 

"  You  forget  the  danger  of  the  road,  and  the  time  of 

night  and "  stammered  Braddock.  He  could  not, 

with  those  clear  blue  eyes  looking  into  his,  hint  at  any 
other  objection  which  worldlier  women  would  have  fore 
seen.  "  There  comes  your  father.  He  will  tell  you  it  is 
impracticable." 

"  Dr.  Braddock,"  laying  her  hand  on  his,  "  my  father 
is  no  judge  of  this  matter.  Neither  are  you.  If  An 
dross  is  dead  or  in  danger,  it  is  my  right  to  go  to  him. 
If,"  looking  him  full  in  the  eye,  "  he  has  done  wrong,  I 
can  bring  him  back.  I  am  nearer  to  him  than  you." 

Braddock  was  silenced  as  by  a  blow.  After  all,  there 
was  a  higher  law  of  love  and  helpfulness  before  which 


JOHN   ANDEOSS.  39 

danger  and  conventionality  were  trifles.  If  she  loved 
this  poor  criminal,  a  word  from  her  might  do  more  to 
save  him  than  all  his  efforts  or  Macintosh's  exhortations. 
But  how  did  she  come  to  suspect  there  had  been  wrong 
doing  ?  Women  had  eyes  like  ferrets,  no  matter  what 
their  youth  and  innocence. 

Judge  Maddox  came  in  while  he  was  searching  for  a 
word. 

"  What,  Braddock,  not  off  yet  ?  Anna,  you  ought  to 
consider  poor  Andross  and  not  detain  the  doctor.  An- 
dross  has  been  kind  to  you,  I'm  sure.  The  handiest  fel 
low  about  a  house,  you  see,  Braddock." 

"  So  kind  that  he  is  quite  necessary  to  me,  papa,  and 
I  propose  to  go  with  Doctor  Braddock  to  find  him,"  tying 
on  a  pink  opera  cloak  and  drawing  its  bewitching  hood 
over  her  head. 

"Absurd,  Anna!  Are  you  mad?"  But  Braddock 
noted  that  the  judge's  face  wore  a  look  of  alarm  which 
hinted  that  he  thought  the  matter  settled  when  Anna 
planned  it.  "  Why,  the  road  to  Bear  Valley  is  up  the 
steepest  side  of  Gray  Mountain,  dangerous  for  the  sur 
est-footed  horse  in  daylight.  It  was  there  that  Roskyns 
killed  a  panther  last  January ;  and  as  for  rattlesnakes 
.  Besides,  what  would  people  say  if  you  went  scour 
ing  the  country  at  the  dead  of  night  with  one  young 
man  in  search  of  another  ?  " 

Anna's  fair  skin  crimsoned  a  little. 

"Yes,  I  knew  there  were  snakes,  and  Roskyns  told  me 
himself  about  the  panther,"  she  said  so  regretfully  that 
Braddock  doubted  for  the  moment  if  the  hope  of  an  ad 
venture  had  not  tempted  her,  and  looked  at  her  in  per 
plexed  wonder. 

It  is  women  like  Anna  that  are  sphinxes  to  men,  and 
are  therefore  treated  with  a  sort  of  awe-struck  homage. 

"Then  you'll  not  go,  my  dear  ?  "  blustered  the  judge, 
but  doubtfully. 


40  JOHN   AXDItOSS. 

"  Certainly  not,  papa,  if  you  disapprove  of  it,"  with,  a 
bright,  affectionate  smile  which  caused  Braddock  as 
never  before  to  reflect  how  exquisite  a  thing  was  filial 
oJsnedience.  The  judge  began  a  dribble  of  directions, 
warnings,  and  advice  to  him,  in  the  midst  of  which  An 
na  disappeared. 

"  Here's  your  horse,"  as  they  went  out  of  the  door. 
((  Joe  has  brought  him  up.  Now  be  off,  and  good  luck, 
and  God  bless  you." 

Braddock  lost  no  time.  The  heels  of  his  horse  struck 
sparks  from  the  flinty  road.  In  half  an  hour  he  had 
left  the  Works  and  all  trace  of  human  habitation  behind 
and  reached  the  gorge  between  the  mountains.  His  only 
path  up  the  heights  was  the  bed  made  by  the  current 
from  a  mountain  spring,  dry  in  summer,  but  in  which 
the  mossy  boulders  lay  green  arid  slimy.  The  solitude 
was  absoluto ;  the  unbroken  forest,  filled  with  the  inex 
plicable  noises  which  belong  to  the  woods  at  night, 
stretched  like  a  vast  wall  on  either  side  of  him  to  the  ho 
rizon.  VThere  was  an  opening  at  last,  where  an  old  Indian 
trail  crossed  the  bed  of  the  brook,  and  in  the  dim  moon 
light  which  the  thinner  foliage  admitted,  he  saw  a  dark 
moving  figure  waiting  apparently  for  him.  Coming  closer, 
he  found  it  to  be  a  horse  and  a  woman  on  it — a  woman 
with  a  small-featured,  baby  face,  looking  beseechingly  at 
him  out  of  a  pink  hood. 


JOHJS"   AJSDROSS.  41 


CHAPTER    IY. 

i 

u  T  TOLD  you  I  was  coming,"  said  Anna  gently. 

-*-  "What  the  deuce,"  Braddock  began  inwardly, 
but  he  only  answered,  "  Yes,  Miss  Maddox,"  and  quietly 
dismounted  to  lead  her  horse  by  the  rein.  If  it  had  been 
Isabel  or  anybody  amenable  to  reason,  he  would  havS^on- 
tinued  hot  in  his  wrath  ;  but  who  could  crush  such  a 
white  dove  as  this  by  displeasure  ?  Before  he  had  gone 
a  dozen  yards  he  forgot,  in  the  feeling  of  how  sublime  an 
act  of  devotion  this  was  in  the  child,  the  discomfort  of 
stumbling  up  a  mountain  pass,  leading  two  horses,  one 
or  the  other  of  which  perpetually  tramped  upon  his 
shins.  She  had  forgotten  danger,  propriety,  even  the 
obedience  to  her  father  which  he  had  thought  so  admira 
ble,  to  follow  the  call  from  the  one  human  being  she 
loved.  Braddock,  narrow,  clean-mindecl  man,  looked  at 
her  from  time  to  time  with  a  wordless  awe  and  tender 
ness.  She  had  dropped  the  reins  instantly  at  his  bidding 
and  sat  quite  helpless  but  for  his  guidance,  her  hands 
folded  outside  of  the  cloak  over  her  breast,  her  pure  face 
turned  heavenward.  As  a  chance  ray  of  light  touched  it 
she  seemed  a  saint  to  him.  If  she  had  persisted  in  hold 
ing  the  reins  and  managing  for  herself,  very  probably  he 
would  have  turned  back  and  marched  her  straight  to  her 
father  as  a  self-willed  little  minx. 

Braddock  was  a  commonplace  fellow  who  liked  life  to 
go  on  in  an  orderly  jog-trot  way  :  breakfast,  office,  din 
ner,  bed,  like  so  many  due  bills  to  duty  paid  and  receipt 
ed.  But  to-night  with  his  hand  on  this  girl's  rein, 
passing  through  these  dreadful  solitudes,  he  felt  as  if  he 


42  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

had  suddenly  opened  up  the  depth  of  the  realities  of  hu 
man  life  in  all  its  vague  mystery — God  overhead,  the  fires 
of  hell  waiting,  and  death  at  hand.  Andross,  the  stout 
"bright-faced  fellow  who  counted  pig-iron  with  him  every 
day,  was  in  fact  a  lost  soul,  that  for  years  had  been  strug 
gling  out  of  vice  and  the  darkness  and  underside  of  life 
into  higher  levels — with  what  fierce  agony  of  effort  Brad- 
dock  now  could  see.  He  had  failed;  if  he  were  dead  yon- 
\  der  in  the  mountains,  had  failed  for  all  eternity.  This 
little  girl  at  whose  silly  vain  chatter  Braddock  had 
laughed  indulgently  every  day,  suddenly  rose  into  a 
height  far  above  him,  as  one  of  God's  messengers,  going 
through  night  and  danger  and  risk  of  shame  unappalled 
upon  her  errand. 

He  wondered,  with  the  awe  with  which  one  would  look 
at  a  drama  whereof  heaven  and  hell  were  the  background, 
whether  if  Andross  was  alive  she  could  save  him;  whether 
he  were  one  of  the  elect  or  one  of  that  countless  multi 
tude  condemned  before  Time  was.  These  were  terrible 
realities,  to  which  Braddock  had  hitherto  approached 
only  through  vague  Sunday  reflections  or  Doctor  Macin 
tosh's  prayers.  He  had  an  uncomfortable  sense  of  sacri 
lege  in  applying  them  to  this  every-day  business  and  these 
every-day  people. 

If  any  human  agency  could  be  sent  as  a  Saviour  to  the 
;  lost  wandering  soul,  surely  this  pure  woman  was  fit  for 
the  errand.  He  thought  of  Jephthah's  daughter  going 
out  upon  the  mountains  ere  she  offered  herself  a  sacrifice; 
of  Una  unharmed  on  her  pilgrimage  by  beasts  of  prey; 
whatever  images  his  narrow  imagination  and  scanty  read 
ing  supplied  him  with,  of  fair,  of  saintly,  he  bestowed 
upon  her  as  he  walked  humbly  at  her  side. 

Anna  bent  down  to  look  curiously  at  the  wet  rocks. 
(t  Now,  I  suppose  if  there  are  any  rattlesnakes  anywhere 
they  would  be  here?" 


JOHX  ANDHOSS.  43 

"Nothing  would  harm  you  on  your  errand,"  cried 
Braddock,  almost  in  a  state  of  religious  exaltation. 

"  No,  I  don't  really  suppose  a  snake  could  reach  me  up 
*  here/'  she  piped  in  her  sweet,  pleading  little  voice,  draw 
ing  her  legs  up  higher  on  the  horse.     "  Besides,  it  would 
attack  you  first.     Of   course  you're  armed  in  case  we 
should  meet  a  hear?" 

"No.  There's  no  danger  from  bears  in  this  time  of 
the  year.  Don't  be  frightened.  Keep  your  thoughts 
clear,  for  your  great  errand.  Though  if  we  find  him 
alive,  it  will  be  given  to  you  what  to  speak. " 

"Oh!  I'm  never  at  a  loss  for  words.  Papa  calls  me  a 
perfect  chatter-box.  I  shall  scold  Mr.  Andross  roundly 
for  giving  us  all  such  a  fright;  he'll  have  no  petting  from 
me,  you  may  rest  assured  of  that.  Well,  now,  I  was  sure 
we  would  meet  a  panther  or  something,"  in  a  most 
pathetic  cadence.  "My  cousin,  Mrs.  Large,  w as  in  a 
party  once  which  was  attacked  by  wolves  in  the  Pyrenees, 
and  such  a  talk  as  all  her  family  have  kept  up  about  it! 
It  has  been  their  clieval  de  lataille  of  conversation  ever 
since,  and  here  have  I  lived  all  my  life  right  beside  wild 
beasts,  plenty  of  them,  and  never  had  an  adventure!  I 
was  quite  sure  of  one  to-night." 

There  was  something  dampening  to  Braddock's  enthu 
siasm,  it  is  true,  in  these  little  dribbles,  but  the  fountain 
was  so  pure!  He  looked  up  at  the  clear,  delicately  cut 
face,  and  felt  the  small  hand  laid  confidingly  on  his 
shoulder,  and  was  with  Una  and  all  the  heroic,  saintly  • 
company  again.  The  child  was  but  a  child,  but  because 
of  her  simplicity  the  fitter  for  G-od's  messenger.  After 
she  had  kept  silence  five  minutes  it  seemed  to  him  that 
the  chance  rays  of  light  made  a  halo  for  her  head. 

Anna  was  thinking  what  a  pretty  pose  hers  was  on  a 
horse.  Braddock  was  like  a  knight — a  much  better 
figure  for  a  knight  than  Andross,  who  was  undeniably 
stout  and  wore  no  beard  either;  and  this  cloak  she  had 


44  JOHN    ANDEOSS. 

on,  how  lucky  it  was  soft  cashmere  instead  of  any  stiff er 
stuff — it  draped  so  well.  Only,  white  would  have  looked 
better  than  pink. 

They  came  out  now  from  the  thick  forest  into  an  open 
space — a  range  of  ridges  from  which  the  underbrush  and 
trees  had  been  partially  cleared.  Here  and  there  upon 
the  cleared  space  lay  portentous  dark  shadows. 

"You  must  dismount  here,"  said  Braddock.  They 
had  reached  the  district  of  the  abandoned  ore-banks  full, 
as  he  knew,  of  old  shafts  from  sixty  to  two  hundred  feet 
deep  and  left  open,  save  for  the  brambles  and  berry 
bushes  which  covered  their  tops.  "  You  could  not  take 
ten  steps  here  on  horseback  without  peril  of  your  life, 
and  I  really  don't  see/'  in  perplexity,  "how  it  is  possible 
for  you  to  advance  even  on  foot. " 

"  Oh,  I  am  sure  you  will  take  care  of  me,"  murmured 
Anna. 

Yesterday,  indeed  up  to  nine  o'clock  this  evening, 
Anna  had  cared  for  nothing  in  the  world  so  much  as 
Andross.  When  she  suspected  him  of  guilt,  her  devotion 
(very  genuine  of  its  kind)  rose  to  fever  heat.  She  remem 
bered  one  of  her  songs  about  the  "  one  who  ne'er  would 
flee  from  the  tiger  slain,  but  soothe  its  dying  pain,"  etc., 
etc.,  and  had  been  singing  it  through  her  tears  all  day. 

But  Andross  was  so  provokingly  long  in  being  found, 
and  Braddock  was  like  Greatheart  or  Sir  Galahad. 
Really,  she  never  had  observed  how  finely  cut  a  nose  and 
chin  he  had,  nor  how  well  his  pale,  lean  face  was  thrown 
into  relief  by  the  black  whiskers.  She  had  always 
thought  him  a  bigoted  and  sour  sort  of  man,  and  a  good 
deal  of  a  prig;  but  now— 

"You  will  take  care  of  me,"  she  said  again,  in  a  musi 
cal  whisper  which  would  have  reminded  a  sharp  woman 
of  Rosalind's  murmured,  "Woo  me,  woo  me,"  which 
thrilled  the  listening  forest  of  Ardenne. 

It  thrilled  Braddock  uncomfortably. 


JOHN   AXDEOSS.  45 

"  Perhaps  I  had  better  get  you  to  shelter,"  he  said, 
with  awkward  haste.  "I  had  a  superstitious  fancy  that 
you  would  be  guided  somehow  to  Andross,  but  I  can  find 
him  as  well  by  myself,  probably. " 

"What  are  you  going  to  do  with  me,  then?"  holding 
his  arm  with  fluttering,  feeble  hands. 

"  I'll  take  you  to  Colonel  Latimer's.  There  is  a  light 
from  his  windows — that  red  speck  yonder." 

"  Oh,  dear!  Isabel  Latimer  is  such  a  dreadfully  sensi 
ble,  unfeeling  creature!  But  one  would  not  like  to  be 
dragged  out  of  an  old  shaft  like  a  rat  in  a  hole,  to  be 
sure.  Well,  Dr.  Braddock,  you  can  take  me  wherever 
you  choose." 

They  reached  the  colonel's  house  in  a  few  minutes.  It 
lay  in  the  mouth  of  the  gorge,  surrounded  by  the  brawl 
ing  waters  of  the  creek,  but  Braddock  knew  the  way  too 
well  to  be  in  danger  of  pitfalls.  He  knew,  too,  that  the 
light  was  in  Isabel's  window;  she  had  waited,  perhaps, 
for  some  message,  on  his  return,  which  he  had  forgotten 
to  send.  No  matter;  she  would  forget  her  disappoint 
ment  now,  in  sympathy  with  this  child  and  her  errand. 
He  lifted  Anna  from  her  horse  as  reverently  as  though  it 
had  been  Godiva  herself,  and  opened  the  door,  which  was 
unlocked,  according  to  the  habit  of  the  mountains. 

Miss  Latimer  came  down  the  stairs  the  next  moment 
with  a  light  in  her  hand.  Her  eyes  sparkled  at  sight  of 
Braddock.  The  doctor  was  in  such  haste  to  show  his 
heroine  to  her  that  he  forgot  he  had  not  seen  her  for  a 
week.  People  were  more  apt  to  think  of  Isabel's  sympa 
thy  than  of  Isabel  herself. 

He  left  the  little  pink-draped  figure  by  the  door. 

"It  is  Anna,  Miss  Maddox,  Bell;  come  and  help  the 
poor  child !  She — I  was  going  in  search  of  Andross  and 
she  would  come  with  me.  I  thought  it  would  be  better 
to  leave  her  here.  You  could  take  care  of  her." 

The  sparkle  was  quite  gone  out  now  from  Isabel's  eyes. 


46  JOHN    ANDBDS8. 

"  Miss  Maddox  would  not  be  very  efficient  in  a  search 
ing  party,  I  imagine/'  eyeing  her  across  the  hall  with  an 
amused  laugh  in  her  face. 

Braddock  remembered  angrily  that  women  were  always 
hard  on  women,  yet  even  the  hardest,  he  would  have 
supposed,  might  soften  to  that  lovely  little  enthusiast. 

"At  least  you  will  be  kind  to  her,  and  give  her  what 
comfort  you  can?" 

"  I  should  suppose  that,  just  now,  would  be  water  and 
towels.  Why,  Nannie!"  advancing  cheerfully,  "what  a 
woe-begone,  drabbled  object  you  are !  Go  up  to  the  front 
chamber,  you  know  the  way,  and  go  to  bed  directly.  I 
must  speak  to  Dr.  Braddock  alone  a  moment." 

"  Sending  me  off  like  a  baby  that  she  may  take  posses 
sion  of  the  doctor!"  thought  Anna;  and  then  the  vine- 
like  creature,  after  the  habit  of  vines,  being  thus  summa 
rily  robbed  of  one  support,  put  out  its  tendrils  in  search 
of  another. 

"To  bed,  Isabel?"  she  said  coldly.  "'How  can  any 
oi.  us  sleep  when  Mr.  Andross  is  lying  dead  in  the 
mountains?" 

Braddock's  face  was  filled  with  the  tenderest  pity,  but 
Isabel  listened  calmly. 

"You  at  least  will  be  much  more  apt  to  sleep  if  you 
are  in  bed,"  she  said  good-humouredly,  and  watched  her 
without  speaking  until  she  had  gone  up  the  stairs.  Then 
she  turned  to  Braddock : 

"You  need  look  no  further,"  she  said,  "Andross  is 
here." 


JOHN   AXDROSS.  47 


OHAPTEK    V. 

«    A  LIVE?    Alive?"     He   could    not   say  anything 

-"-  more.  The  blood  in  his  veins  stood  still;  some 
thing  choked  his  throat.  Braddock  was  surprised  at 
himself;  he  had  not  known  he  cared  so  much  for  any 
body,  much  less  this  idle  fellow. 

Isabel  turned  to  him  suddenly.  "You  love  like  a 
v  woman,  Clay."  She  had  only  touched  him  on  the  arm, 
but  her  eyes  grew  wet  and  her  cheek  burned  so  that  it 
seemed  as  if  she  had  kissed  him. 

"Why  didn't  you  tell  that  poor  little  creature  and 
send  her  to  bed  comforted?" 

"Time  enough  for  her  to  know  to-morrow.  Mr. 
An  dross  is  in  the  front  room.  He  thought  you  would 
be  here  early  in  the  evening,  and  has  been  waiting  for 
you." 

"I'll  go  to  him.  Good-night,  Bell."  After  he  had 
taken  the  lamp  from  her  and  hurried  across  the  hall,  he 
remembered  that  they  had  been  separated  longer  than 
ever  before.  He  ought  to  have  been  more  tender  in  his 
greeting — have  kissed  her,  he  thought,  reddening.  But 
then  Bell  was  not  a  woman  to  care  for  caresses  or  any 
trivial  expressions  of  affection.  Andross  was  nearly  right 
when  he  talked  of  her  Roman  head;  both  features,  he 
thought,  and  character  were  of  the  old  Roman  mould — 
graver,  more  liberal  than  American  types.  Yet  she  need 
not  have  put  that  poor  little  Maddox  girl  so  utterly  out 
of  the  question  to-night  in  her  large,  good-humoured  way, 
as  though  it  were  a  gnat  she  was  brushing  aside. 

He  stopped  a  minute  at  the  door,  behind  which  was 


48  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

Andross,  not  to  steady  his  nerves,  for  Braddock  would  go 
about  all  the  business  of  life  in  a  matter-of-fact  way, 
would  die  most  probably,  as  he  had  made  love,  in  a 
politely  respectable  fashion.  He  would  have  been  very 
glad  if  Andross  could  have  come  right  into  the  office 
to-morrow  morning,  and  they  could  have  gone  on  with 
work,  smoking  cigars  and  talking  over  the  morning's 
Herald  and  Tribune  together  as  usual,  without  any 
pother  of  welcome  or  confession  or  reconciliation.  Brad- 
dock,  the  Presbyterian,  might  hate  sin,  but  Braddock, 
the  man,  hated  a  scene  more,  and  besides  he  had  that 
terrible  embarrassment  of  shame  upon  him  with  which 
an  innocent  man  faces  a  guilty  one  dear  to  him. 

When  he  opened  the  door  and  Andross  came  to  meet 
him,  it  was  Braddock  who  looked  the  criminal. 

The  men  shook  hands. 

"Ah,  Braddock!  You  came  up  this  evening?"  said 
Andross,  gulping  through  commonplaces  as  men  do, 
though  death  be  tugging  at  their  throats. 

"Yes." 

"  Have  a  good  run  up?" 

"  No,  behind  time.  The  train  was  delayed  at  Williams- 
port  as  usual.  The  company  takes  no  oversight  of  these 
branch  roads.  Why,  Andross ! "  as  they  came  up  to  the 
light.  "You've  been  ill.  Sit  down,  man,  sit  down!" 

Braddock  had  never  in  his  life  perhaps  expressed  sym 
pathy  with  mental  trouble,  but  the  gaunt  face  and  sunken 
eyes  of  the  man  whom  he  had  left  a  fortnight  ago  plump 
and  hearty  were  things  he  could  talk  of  fluently.  "  What 
is  it,  Andross?  You  look  as  if  you  were  struck  with 
death!" 

"  No.  I'm  too  toughly  built.  A  man  of  my  constitu 
tion  don't  die  of  grief  or  shame;  more's  the  pity.  Twice 
out  in  the  mountains  I  tried  to  put  an  end  to  myself  this 
week,  but  it  ended  like  Gothe's  going  to  bed  with  a 
dagger  and  poison.  It  seemed  to  me  there  must  be  a 


JOHN    AXDROSS..  49 

cliance  for  me  yet,  if  only  in  the  fact  that  you  could  be 
as  patient  with  such  a  man  of  straw  as  you  have  been 
with  me."  The  face  he  turned  on  Braddock  was  full  of 
a  fine  sensitiveness,  and  eager  and  appealing  as  a  woman's. 
But  the  doctor  turned  from  it  impatiently.  A  man  of 
straw,  indeed  !  He  had  not  will  enough  to  put  the  knife 
to  his  throat  after  he  had  made  a  thief  of  himself.  Brad- 
dock  walked  up  and  down  once  or  twice  before  he  could 
reply. 

"  Your  nervous  system  is  run  down,  I  suspect/'  he  said 
drily.  "  Go  to  bed  now,  and  in  the  morning  I'll  see  what 
will  be  best  to  give  you.  Quinine,  probably,  or  bromide 
of  potassium." 

Andross  laughed.  "You're  more  practical  than  I 
thought.  You  dragged  me  out  of  hell  once,  and  you 
know  it;  and  now,  when  I  have  gone  back  again,  you 
give  me  bromide  of  potassium." 

"You  forget,  Andross,  that  I  know  nothing  of  your 
past  life.  I  never  knew  what  curse  had  brought  you  as 
low  as  you  were  when  I  found  you — whether  it  was  drink 
or  cards  or  women.  Nor  do  I  know  how  it  took  hold  of 
you  again.  What  does  that  matter  for  me  ?  My  words 
of  advice  would  prevail  nothing  if  there  is  a  sentence 

against  you "  He  stopped  short  there.  He  could 

not  believe  Andross  was  one  of  the  multitude  foredoomed 
for  destruction.  He  was  standing  in  front  of  Braddock 
in  his  shirt  sleeves.  The  light  fell  on  his  bared  neck  and 
uplifted  head.  In  spite  of  the  gauntness  and  haggard- 
ness  of  the  man  there  was  still  that  certain  air  of  youth 
and  springiness  and  wholesome  energy  about  him  which 
Braddock  always  had  told  himself  could  only  belong  to 
one  whose  life  had  been  temperate  and  cleanly. 

"He  has  been  neither  profligate  nor  debauchee,"  he 
thought,  trying  as  usual  to  find  a  reason  for  the  blind 
faith  he  had  put  in  him. 

t(  No,     It  was  none  of  those  ordinary  vices  that  dragged 


50  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

me  down.  There  never  seemed  to  me  to  be  any  great 
temptation  in  them."  He  paused  a  minute.  "I  don't 
know  why  I  should  say  anything  more  to  you.  I  have 
no  wish  to  come  whining  to  you  about  any  exceptional 
hardness  in  my  lot." 

"  I  have  no  wish  to  know  your  secret,  An  dross," 
coldly.  At  that  there  was  a  weak,  uncertain  quiver  in 
the  face  of  the  guilty  man,  peculiar  to  him.  The  mo 
ment,  like  a  woman,  that  he  had  thrust  sympathy  away, 
he  craved  it  more  greedily. 

"It  has  been  harder  than  other  men's.  I've  been 
tangled  in  a  net,  by  no  fault  of  my  own,  since  I  was  a 
boy,  and  it  has  held  me  down.  You  know  whether  I 
have  struggled  faithfully  against  it  or  not.  It's  not 
worth  while  to  struggle  now  any  longer." 

"Bah!  That  is  sheer  folly,"  vehemently.  "If  you 
tell  me  that  all  your  struggles  may  be  unavailing  to 
insure  your  salvation  for  the  next  world,  I  can  under 
stand  you.  But  there's  no  power  which  can  prevent  a 
man  from  leading  a  decent  and  honest  life  in  this,  if  he 
chooses." 

Andross  had  turned  from  him  and  stood  leaning  on  the 
mantel-shelf,  still  looking  down  into  the  open,  fireless 
hearth.  He  did  not  move,  although  the  tall,  black-a- 
vised  man  beside  him,  in  his  eagerness,  had  caught  him 
almost  roughly  by  the  arm.  Outside,  a  sickly  gray  light 
began  to  struggle  through  the  night  at  the  east.  The 
wind  had  died  out.  There  was  silence  that  might  be 
felt  in  the  mountains  and  in  the  sky.  Even  to  Brad- 
dock's  unimaginative  soul  it  seemed  as  though  there  was 
a  listening  pause  in  Nature  while  this  man's  soul  that 
had  come  so  close  at  times  to  God,  stood  for  the  last  time 
at  the  crossing  of  the  ways,  to  choose  between  life  and 
death. 

And  only  he,  Braddock,  held  him  by  the  hand.  It 
was  he  who  had  been  appointed  his  brother's  keeper.  It 


ANDROSS.  51 

would  have  been  so  natural  and  comfortable  to  go  back 
to  every-day  ways  and  gossip  about  politics  or  the  next 
week's  yield  of  pig-iron,  and  to  shut  their  eyes  to  this 
awful  undercurrent  of  sin  and  remorse  and  death  below. 
It  was  the  first  time  in  his  life  Braddock  had  dared  to 
speak  in  such  wise  to  a  man.  The  shame  and  the  novelty 
of  it  made  his  voice  hoarse  and  his  commonplace  sales 
man's  face  set  and  rigid,  while  Andross,  usually  all  nerve 
and  fire,  was  heavy  and  motionless  as  a  log. 

' ( I  am  not  fit  to  talk  to  you.  I  never  can  talk  of  relig 
ious  matters,  Jack.  If  it  was  Dr.  Macintosh  now . 

But  for  God's  sake,  be  a  man.  It  seems  to  me  as  if  you 
stood  on  the  edge  of  the  pit.  There's  no  force  that  need 
compel  you  to  go  down  it.  There  are  no  devils  to  enter 
into  a  man  now  as  in  old  times." 

He  stopped,  confused.  His  creed,  taught  him  in  the 
village  church,  told  him  that  there  were  devils;  that 
there  was  no  hope  for  Andross  if  he  had  not  been  born 
with  his  name  written  beforehand  in  an  invisible,  unal 
terable  list  yonder;  but  the  every-day  experience  ho  had 
gained  knocking  around  from  the  Works  to  New  York 
forced  him  to  believe  that  no  man  was  a  thief  or  liar  but 
by  his  own  free  will.  A  theologian  might  reconcile  the 
two;  but  Clay  was  no  theologian. 

Andross  answered  as  from  far-off  reasonings  of  his  own. 
"You're  mistaken.  There  are  forces  outside  of  a  man 
nowadays — here,  all  about  him — just  as  strong  to  compel 
him  to  ill-doing  as  ever  there  were  in  the  wilderness  or  in 
hell.  Talk  of  your  devils — Satan  and  Apollyon ! "  with  a 
sudden  discordant  laugh.  "/  don't  know  them!  I'd 
sooner  run  the  risk  of  facing  the  whole  batch  of  them 
than  one  little  red-headed  man  I  know.  They'd  do  my 
soul  less  harm.  ISTone  of  their  flames  are  as  terrible  as  a 
policeman's  tap  on  the  shoulder — that  is,"  catching  his 
breath,  "if  I  were  a  poor  wretch  who  knew  he  was  in 
danger  of  a  jail  cell  while  he  was  trying  to  be  an  honest 


52  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

man  and  a  gentleman."  He  pushed  up  the  window  as 
though  choking  for  air,  but  none  came:  a  sullen  torpor, 
dark  and  breathless,  held  the  night. 

"  I  don't  follow  you-  clearly,"  said  the  doctor  drily. 
He  sat  down  by  the  table,  pushed  some  books  back  to 
make  room  for  his  elbow,  looked  at  his  pink,  well-shaped 
nails  with  a  face  of  grave  rebuke.  "  I  know  that  sort  of 
infidel  heterodoxy  is  fashionable,  but  I  confess  I  never 
understood  it.  To  compare  the  Author  of  all  evil  to  a 
policeman  is  a  belittling  view  of  the  truths  of  Holy  Writ, 
to  my  mind." 

"I'll  tell  you  frankly,  Braddock,  where  I  stand,"  as 
though  he  had  not  heard  him.  "For  years  I  have  been 
in  the  hold — not  of  a  man,  nor  a  devil,  but  of  a  corpora 
tion.  That  sounds  commonplace  enough,  don't  it?  You 
could  easily  get  out  of  that  halter?  Wait  one  minute, 
Braddock.  The  purpose  of  this  club  or  organization  is 
unmixed  evil.  As  for  its  power — it  has  money.  Unlim 
ited  money.  It  buys  and  sells  at  will  the  government 
and  interests  of  the  city  where  it  belongs :  it  controls  the 
press,  the  pulpit,  the  courts.  The  best  men  are  muzzled 
by  it,  are  forced  against  their  will  to  serve  it.  What  was 
I  to  fight  against  it?  It  needed  me,  and  it  has  an  abso 
lute  hold  on  me — I  can't  tell  you  now  how  it  gained  it." 
Just  then  he  caught  the  doctor's  keen  black  eyes  under 
their  suspicious  brows  fixed  on  him. 

"No,  I'm  not  making  melodrama  out  of  this  matter. 
I've  been  the  slave  of  this  Thing.  I've  been  forced  to 
work  for  it  with  both  body  and  brain;  though,  you  would 
say,  God  gave  me  both  to  make  an  honest  Christian  man 

out  of  me.     I  suppose  He  did " 

r  "I  think  I  should  have  been  able  to  master  any  such 
force  as  that,"  dogmatically.  "If  a  thing  is  wrong, 
there's  the  law.  There's  public  opinion  to  back  you  in 
putting  it  down." 

"You  might  fight  against  a  man,     But  a  powerful 


JOHN  ANDROSS.  53 

corporation  meets  you  with  the  brain  power  of  a  multi 
tude  of  men,  but  with  no  conscience,  nothing  to  which 
you  can  appeal.  It  buys  the  law.  It  buys  public  opinion." 

Braddock  had  been  reading  Andross's  face  with  its  pro 
truding  forehead  and  weak  chin. 

"Now  I  understand  you  pretty  thoroughly,  John,"  he 
said  frankly.  "  You'll  not  mind  if  I'm  candid,  eh?  Fm 
a  pretty  sharp  reader  of  human  nature,  you  know,  and  it 
strikes  me  that  the  difficulty  has  been  in  yourself.  Your 
imagination  is  always  at  white  heat,  you  know:  you've 
exaggerated  some  ordinary  political  club  into  a  monster 
that  devours  men's  souls  and  bodies.  You  do  that  sort 
of  thing  a  good  deal,  Andross.  And  then  you — well,  I 
don't  say  that  you're  not  strong  in  a  certain  way,  but " 

"I  understand,  a  man  of  straw." 

"Now  don't  be  hasty.  If  you'd  said  a  man  of  wax — . 
I  mean  that  you  are  influenced  by  people  whom  you  like, 
unwarrantably.  Now  /  should  have  said  to  these  people 
calmly,  ( I  can  not  do  as  you  require.  It  is  wrong.  To 
the  law  and  the  testimony.'  What  possible  hold  could 
they  have  on  you  which  would  resist  that?" 

There  was  a  pause. 

"No  matter.  They  did  have  it.  They  have  it  yet. 
I  can  not  explain  that  to  you,  Braddock,"  hastily.  "  I 
went  to  the  coaling  hearths  to  escape  them.  When  I 
came  here  I  thought  I  was  still  out  of  their  reach.  It 
was  the  first  time  I  had  ever  seen  the  way  clear  for  me  to 
be  like  other  men,  even  in  the  matter  of  earning  money 
honestly  and  being  paid  for  it.  You  and  Maddox  had 
confidence  in  me.  I  thought  I  could  make  a  position  for 
myself  here,  and  some  day  marry,  and  have  a  home  and 
wife  and  children  as  other  men  can  do." 

"  Yes,  J  understand,  Andross,"  gently,  thinking  of  the 
child  up  stairs.  '  <  Well ?  " 

"That  was  only  a  week  ago.  Then  they  found  me 
out.  I  am  in  their  power,  Braddock,  as  if  they  had  a 


54  JOH^   ANDROSS. 


halter  about  my  neck.  I  had  the  choice  to  go  with  them 
or  buy  them  off." 

Both  men  were  silent  for  awhile. 

"  Go  on,"  said  Braddock. 

"I—  bought  them  off." 

He  watched  the  doctor  furtively.  Braddock  stood 
with  his  back  to  him.  A  damp,  chilly  wind  blew  through 
the  room,  heavy  with  fog.  There  was  a  break  in  the 
solid  rampart  of  gray  behind  the  Muncey  range,  an  open 
ing  as  into  a  new  firmament  full  of  shifting,  uncertain 
colour.  Andross  long  afterward  remembered  that  red 
watery  depth  together  with  the  breathless  pause  of 
waiting. 

Braddock,  he  saw,  was  not  surprised  at  his  last  words; 
he  knew  him  already  then  to  be  a  thief? 

"While  he  stood  like  a  miserable  convict,  his  weak 
mouth  open,  staring  at  the  doctor's  back,  Braddock  was 
running  over  the  whole  situation  in  his  own  mind. 

He  could  not  bear  that  this  poor  creature  should  go  on 
and  confess  his  crime;  he  would  as  lief  have  had  him 
commit  hari-kari  beside  him.  Let  him  confess  it  to  God. 
If  they  did  talk  of  the  money,  then  he  must  explain  that 
he  had  replaced  it,  and  that  would  be  a  miserably  mean 
bit  of  bragging.  It  would  crush  Andross  to  the  earth; 
for  he  knew  how  the  money  had  been  saved  and  for  what. 
'  (  He'd  never  look  me  in  the  face,  going  about  the  "Works, 
knowing  he  owed  me  such  a  sacrifice  as  that,"  he  thought. 
And  he  was  going  to  bring  back  Andross  to  the  Works. 
He  believed  he  would  be  honest  in  future,  not  because  of 
this  rubbish  he  had  told  him  about  a  King,  but  because, 
because  -  Well,  he  always  had  believed  in  Andross. 

For  Braddock  could  give  no  better  reasons  for  any  of 
his  opinions  than  for  having  an  aquiline  nose  on  his  face. 

While  he  was  thus  sharply  debating  the  matter,  and 
deciding  that  when  Andross  was  in  the  office  he  could 
keep  a  supervision  over  him,  that  the  judge  should  suffer 


JOHIST   AKDROSS.  55 

no  loss,  that  poor  wretch,  came  up  behind  him,  and  laying 
his  hands  on  his  shoulders,  turned  him  around.  His  face 
was  ghastly. 

"Look  here,  I'm  in  your  hands,  Braddock;  you're  the 
only  friend  I've  got  in  the  world.  Do  what  you  please 
with  me." 

For  a  moment  the  doctor  could  not  collect  his  wits  to 
reply. 

"There  now!  there  now!"  loosening  Andross's  hold. 
"  I  don't  like  scenes,  John.  Go  to  bed,  and  report  your 
self  at  the  "Works  early  in  the  morning.  That's  all  I  can 
say  to  you." 

"Do  you  mean — — "  Could  it  be  that  the  loss  of  the 
money  was  not  yet  discovered?  There  was  a  chance  then 
that  he  might  replace  it?  He  had  meant  to  replace  it 
until  the  consciousness  of  being  a  thief  had  driven  him 
mad. 

"  I  mean  that  you  are  to  come  back  to  the  office  and  go 
to  work.  If  your  old  enemies  trouble  you  let  me  know. 
I'll  attend  to  them,"  with  an  inflexible  crook  of  the  eye 
brows  and  cocking  of  the  chin,  which  in  anybody  else, 
Andross  would  have  quizzed  as  intolerable  conceit  and 
priggishness.  But  the  humbled  fellow  looked  up  to  the 
young  doctor  as  one  of  the  saints  of  the  earth. 

"I'll  go  down  then,  Clay.  If  you  say  so.  It's  a 
chance  for  me  to  be  a  man  again." 

"Very  well.  I'm  going  back  to-night.  Explain  to 
Miss  Latimer  in  the  morning  that  I've  gone." 

"Yes.  She it  was  Miss  Latimer  found  me  in  the 

mountain  to-day.  If  it  had  not  been  for  her  I  should 
not  have  been  alive  now.  1 1  think  God  made  her  differ 
ent  from  other  women." 

"Oh,  it  was  she  that  found  you,  eh?  Well,  good 
night."  He  took  Andross's  cold  hand  and  dropped  it 
quickly,  going  out  hurriedly  without  meeting  the  dread 
ful  pleading  look  which  he  knew  was  fastened  upon,  him. 


56  JOHN   ANDEOSS. 

"  He  does  not  know! "  said  Andross  with,  a  long  breath. 
He  felt  for  the  minute  as  though  he  were  an  innocent 
man. 

"  He  would  have  been  alive  whether  Bell  found  him  or 
not/'  ran  the  doctor's  thoughts.  "  He  has  not  strength 
of  mind  enough  to  kill  himself.  And  as  for  Bell,  how  is 
she  different  from  all  other  women?  That  little  thing  of 
the  judge's,  now — her  devotion  and  exaltation  of  nature 
were  something  really  remarkable.  Bell  is  the  dearest 
girl  in  the  world,  but  as  for  being  different  from  other 
women — nonsense  ' 


JOHN  ANDEOSS.  57 


CHAPTEK     VI. 

A  S  long  as  the  night  lasted,  Jack  Andross  knew  that 
-£*-  in  spite  of  his  reprieve  he  never  should  hold  up  his 
head  among  men  again.  He  felt  his  hands,  muttering  to 
himself  that  this  was  the  flesh  of  a  thief;  he  recalled  the 
faces  of  all  the  men  he  had  seen  in  rogues'  galleries  and 
the  dock,  and  told  himself  again  and  again  that  he  was 
no  better  than  they:  just  as  he  had  been  talking  to  him 
self  for  days  up  in  the  hills,  taking  out  his  pistol  now 
and  then  and  cocking  it.  Why  in  God's  name  had  he 
not  used  it,  and  put  an  end  to  all  this  intolerable  misery? 
Presently,  however,  the  day  began  to  break,  and,  being 
feverish,  he  went  to  the  window  to  catch  the  cold  air, 
and  then  waited  to  see  the  red  light  on  the  creek  beside 
the  house.  The  water  went  brawling  over  the  stones;  it 
was  like  voices  talking;  another  minute  and  one  could 
tell  what  they  said;  the  colonel's  big  dog  came  rushing 
through  the  currant-bushes  up  to  the  house  knocking  the 
dew  off  them  like  rain.  Andross  whistled  to  him:  "  Hah, 
you  scoundrel!  After  sheep,  eh?"  he  said.  Then  he 
leaned  farther  out  to  see  the  chickens  come  clucking  up 
from  the  barn,  and  finding  some  crackers  in  his  pocket, 
whistled  to  them  and  threw  out  the  crumbs.  He  must 
remember  to  bring  the  colonel  some  Poland  hens  next 
time  he  drove  over  to  Millhall.  Just  then  the  old  black 
man  who  was  Bell's  cook  and  maid  of  all  work  opened 
the  kitchen  door,  and  looking  up  touched  his  hat  to 
Andross. 

"Pretty  fa'h  mohnin,  sah.  Gwine  take  a  bath  's 
usual?"  For  Andross  often  came  up  to  spend  the  night 


58  JOHN   AXDROSS. 

with  the  colonel.  He  nodded  and  went  down  to  Otho 
for  towels.  "'Rival  in  de  night,  sah!  Doctor  from  de 
Wohks  and  young  Miss  Maddox." 

Andross  threw  the  towels  over  his  arm,  and  crossed  the 
yard  stopping  at  the  gate.  "Is  Miss  Maddox  here  now, 
Oth?"  he  said,  without  looking  back.  ^ 

"Yes,  sah.     Doctor's  gone  back." 

As  he  passed  along  the  creek  bank  he  was  conscious 
.only  of  an  agony  of  shame,  not  remorse.  He  could  face 
God  or  the  world,  but  not  this  woman. 

But  the  water  in  the  creek  was  deliciously  cold,  and  as 
he  came  back  from  his  bath  the  wind  blew  in  his  face,  a 
flock  of  king-birds  flew  about  him  chirping,  his  feet  sank 
up  to  the  ankle  in  mosses :  through  the  brown  needles  of 
the  pine  the  Indian  pipe  thrust  its  fairy  pillars  of  carved 
ivory.  He  stooped  to  dig  out  a  clump  for  Bell,  remem 
bering  that  she  preferred  them  to  flowers,  and  then 
climbed  the  rocks  to  gather  the  laurel  whose  waxen  clus 
ters  tinged  the  whole  mountain  pink.  The  laurel  and 
the  cold  and  the  dawn,  even  the  chirping  birds,  in  spite 
of  himself,  filled  him  with  a  strange  delight  with  which 
Eings  and  stolen  greenbacks  had  nothing  to  do.  He 
would  not  give  up  his  chance!  The  world  was  a  good 
and  kindly  world !  If  he  told  the  whole  story  to  all  his 
friends  in  the  mountains  they  would  understand  and  for 
give  him.  He  would  go  and  make  his  confession  to  Anna 
— now! 

He  went  scrambling  down  the  cliffs,  loaded  with  his 
laurel,  when  he  caught  sight  of  the  colonel  near  the  barn. 
After  all,  what  was  the  use  of  confessing  to  everybody? 
These  people  were  not  in  God's  place  to  forgive  sin.  He 
would  tell  Braddock,  of  course.  He  wished  he  had  done 
it  last  night.  But  he  would  replace  the  money — he 
always  meant  to  replace  it — before  he  told  Anna.  He 
could  not  drive  her  from  him  now,  until  he  had  won  her. 
In  the  meantime  there  was  Colonel  Latimer,  a  man  of 


JOH1S"  ANDROSS.  59 

honour  like  no  other,  why  not  consult  him?  He  would 
go  at  once  and  tell  him  the  whole  story.  So  he  scrambled 
on  dropping  his  laurel  with  his  face  in  quite  a  glow  of 
satisfaction  at  his  rational  decision.  The  colonel  was  a 
man  of  the  world  as  well  as  honour.  He  would  know 
what  a  Ring  was,  and  why  he  had  been  as  one  might  say, 
compelled  to — borrow  this  money,  and  would  set  it  in  the 
proper  light  to  Braddock. 

The  colonel  had  dragged  on  his  trousers  and  run  down 
barefooted  to  stop  Towers,  the  miller,  whom  he  saw  going 
by  with  a  string  of  eels.  "  The  very  thing! "  he  whispered 
excitedly  to  Bell,  nearly  upsetting  her  in  the  hall.  "  I've 
lain  awake  half  the  night  contriving  a  decent  breakfast ! " 
He  had  just  paid  Towers  double  price  as  Andross  came 
up,  and  was  soothing  Oth's  wrath  about  it. 

"  God  bless  my  soul,  man,  suppose  it  was  swindling. 
When  you  look  closely  into  the  matter  Towers  has  eleven 
children  and  an  aguish  wife.  Eels  are  eels  in  a  case  like 
that.  Halloo!  Mr.  Andross,"  with  the  eels  still  in  one 
hand  and  holding  out  the  other.  "I  was  chagrined 
beyond  measure  to  be  in  bed  last  night  when  you  came. 
It's  this  confounded  leg  of  mine.  Neuralgic.  Not  a 
symptom  of  gout  in  it.  I'm  a  little  careless,  too,  for  a 
man  of  my  age.  Just  ran  down  barefoot — pressing  busi 
ness  with — well,  Otho.  Look  at  that,  sir.  You  can 
understand  a  sunrise  like  that  better  than  any  man  I 
know. " 

Rain  which  was  in  the  air  thickened  the  sky  without 
darkening  it,  so  that  it  absorbed  the  dawn  into  retreating 
depths  of  nebulous  gray,  within  which  shone  a  golden 
lustre.  Below,  the  unbroken  hills  of  green  forest  rolled 
wave  after  wave  to  the  horizon's  edge,  except  where  the 
precipitous  heights  of  the  Nittany  Range  heaped  their 
gray  rocks  in  inextricable  confusion. 

The  colonel's  house,  standing  in  the  gorge,  was  shut  in 
on  every  side  by  these  threatening  recesses,  which  even  at 


JOHN   ANDROSS. 


noon  were  gloomy,  and  fit  haunts  apparently  for  any 
beast  of  prey;  but  the  damp  soft  light  gave  to  them  now 
a  strange  tenderness  and  cheerfulness:  the  gigantic  cedars 
on  the  upper  peaks  showed  but  a  black  fringe  againbt  the 
sky;  the  mountain  springs,  discoloured  by  the  pine  roots, 
ran  in  glittering  brown  threads  over  the  rocks  to  the 
pasture  lands.  The  morning  framed  it  all  into  one  glad 
homelike  picture;  the  very  windows  of  the  dilapidated 
old  house  in  the  gorge  behind  them  shone  yellow  in  the 
glow,  but  the  whiff  of  smoke  from  the  chimney  was  red; 
the  blood-coloured  beet-tops  and  the  tomato  vines  were 
thick  set  with  dew,  eyery  chicken  and  duck  or  pigeon 
scrambling  for  corn  about  Oth's  heels  at  the  kitchen  door 
had  its  cheery  cackle  or  coo.  The  colonel  stood  in  the 
gateway  swinging  his  eels  to  and  fro  in  his  enthusiasm, 
waving  them  to  the  finest  points  of  view.  His  suspenders 
dangled  about  his  legs;  his  thin,  high-nosed  face  cut  the 
wind  like  the  prow  of  a  boat;  his  bald  pate  rose  into 
heights  above  it  as  if  to  assert  its  baldness;  never  before, 
.Andross  thought,  in  all  his  length  and  leanness,  had  he 
been  so  absurdly  long  and  lean  as  now.  But  there  had 
always  been  something  about  the  colonel  from  the  days 
when  he  was  a  dashing  young  fellow  on  the  town,  which 
attracted  all  women:  it  attracted  Andross  in  precisely  the 
same  way  now.  Braddock  was  a  little  ashamed  of  his 
father-in-law's  vagaries,  but  Jack  watched  him  with  a 
good  deal  more  tender  respect  than  he  would  have  showed 
to  the  colonel's  noble  daughter. 

The  colonel  turned  away  with  a  half  sigh  when  the 
glow  began  to  fade.  "  Here,  Otho,  take  your  eels.  No, 
Mr.  Andross,  town  can't  give  us  that,  eh?  Fve  no  doubt 
that  you  are  homesick  as  I  am  sometimes  for  it;  opera, 
theatre,  libraries,  and  the  people,  sir,  and  the  stir  —  the 
being  close  to  the  heart  of  things,  eh?  But  the  sight  of 
the  sun  coming  up  over  old  Nittany  sets  me  all  right 
again.  I  don't  wonder  the  young  fellows  born  here  come 


JOHIT   AXDROSS.  Cl 

back,  after  trying  the  West,  and  fall  to  ploughing  over 
the  boulders.  'Pon  my  soul !  I'm  glad  to  see  you ! "  ener 
getically  as  they  went  into  the  house.  "Do  you  know 
it's  tw"  months  since  anybody  has  broken  bread  with  us?" 
A-  -oss  glanced  down  at  his  muddy  and  ragged  trou 
sers;  he  was  beginning  to  come  bacl^  to  the  world  and 
the  ways  of  it.  Colonel  Latimer  whispered  more  ener 
getically  than  before:  "I  see!  Hunting  rig  is  not  the 
thing  to  appear  in  before  the  ladies.  Now  don't  say  a 
word,  my  dear  fellow.  I'll  bring  up  a  pair  in  five  min 
utes — a  little  too  long,  but  we'll  turn  them  up.  Nothing 
like  soldiering  for  making  a  man  a  tailor.  Go  right  up 
to  your  room." 

Andross  went  up  dazed  and  silenced.  How  could  he 
break  in  on  the  old  man's  single-hearted  delight  in  his 
guest,  or  in  the  pure  beauty  of  the  morning  with  his  vile 
nightmare  story  of  Eings  and  robbery?  Presently,  after 
breakfast,  as  soon  as  they  were  alone.  How  in  the  deuce 
was  he  to  get  into  the  colonel's  trousers?  He  laughed, 
and  with  the  laugh  the  story  of  the  stolen  money  was  a 
dimmer  nightmare  than  ever. 

"Here  you  are!"  The  colonel  tapped  at  the  door. 
fe  They're  very  loose  for  me — there  is  a  difference  in  our 
size  probably.  Now  come  down  as  soon  as  possible.  Bell 
has  a  delightful  surprise  for  you:  a  companion  for  you 
over  to  the  Works,  if  you  persist  in  going." 

He  knew,  of  course,  that  the  colonel  meant  Miss  Mad- 
dox.  She  had  often  last  winter  driven  up  with  Andross 
to  the  gorge  and  spent  the  night  with  them. 

Everything  then  was  to  go  in  the  old  way.  Just  as 
though  he  were  not  a  thief! 

He  was  standing  before  the  glass  ready  to  shave,  and 
saw  his  face  red  with  pleasure,  and  his  eyes  kindled  at 
the  thought  of  Anna.  He  looked  at  the  razor.  Better 
he  should  draw  it  across  his  bare  throat  now  than  deceive 
her  and  be  as  he  had  been  to  her! 


62  JOH^   ANDKOSS. 


Here's  linen,  Mr.  Andross;  and  put  this  pink  bud  in 
your  button-hole,  and  no  woman  will  see  the  fit  of  your 
trousers."  He  heard  the  door  close  behind  the  colonel, 
and  his  steps  as  he  went  into  his  own  room,  and  after 
wards,  being  dressed,  down-stairs;  but  he  still  stood 
irresolute,  not  yet  Determined  how  he  should  go  to  meet 
Anna. 

In  the  meantime  the  poor  little  woman  had  seen  her 
lover,  whom  she  supposed  to  be  dead,  standing  in  the 
gate  with  the  colonel,  and  had  sobbed  and  cried  her  joy 
out  behind  the  window-curtain.  The  tears  were  little 
drops,  and  the  sobs  little  sobs,  perhaps,  but  they  were 
real.  She  would  like  to  have  gone  down  and  hung  on 
his  broad  breast,  and  combed  his  shaggy  hair  with  her 
tiny  pink  fingers  and  smoothed  the  pain  or  trouble  out  of 
his  heart  with  her  touch.  He  was  all  the  dearer  because 
of  his  breadth  and  shagginess  and  mysterious  grief.  A 
different  man  from  that  lank,  neat  Braddock,  that  resume 
of  all  the  moral  virtues!  She  was  glowing  through  all 
her  delicate  flesh  while  he  was  in  sight,  and  chilly  and 
shivering  from  head  to  foot  as  soon  as  he  was  gone;  she 
was  the  woman  Shakspeare  loved  to  draw;  her  bounty  as 
boundless  as  Juliet's,  looking  and  longing  from  a  window 
long  ago,  her  love  (while  it  lasted)  quite  as  deep. 

Usually  she  did  not  favour  Isabel  with  her  society  when 
in  the  house,  but  she  crept  into  her  room  now,  and  asked 
leave  to  dress  there,  and  hung  about  Bell,  taking  down 
her  mass  of  fine  brown  hair,  and  dressing  it  again  with 
her  more  skillful,  swift  fingers.  '  '  How  white  and  stately 
your  neck  is  !  "  she  said,  kissing  it,  and  then  curling  her 
arm  about  it  and  resting  her  head  on  Isabel's  bosom  just 
as  a  baby  would.  Usually  Bell  was  irritable  when  indif 
ferent  people  kissed  or  touched  her,  but  she  patted  the 
pale  little  face  kindly  enough  as  she  lifted  it  off. 

"  Your  head  aches,  Pussy?" 

Anna  sighed  but  said  nothing.     (f  She  thinks  nobody 


JOHIST   AXDROSS.  63 

can  have  feelings  but  herself,  the — the  intellectual  Glum- 
dalclitch,"  she  thought  spitefully.  She  had  a  nice  little 
talent  for  giving  well-fitting  nicknames,  and  was  rather 
pleased  with  this.  "  I  did  not  care  for  her,"  she  thought, 
still  looking  at  Bell  with  wide,  tearful  eyes.  There  was 
an  aching  weight  of  love  under  her  doll-like  waist  to  give  t 
to  somebody,  and  the  soft,  red  lips  were  hungry  to  bo 
kissed.  "I'll  go  down  to  your  father  until  breakfast  is 
ready. "  The  colonel  was  always  overflowing  with  tender 
ness  for  the  pretty  little  girl,  and  she  felt  that  she  sadly 
needed  a  comforter. 

"Very  well,  Nannie." 

"  I  see  that  Mr.  Andross  is  back,"  stopping  to  chirp  to 
the  birds  pecking  at  the  window-sill.  "So  nice  to  see 
him  back  all  safe  again.  We're  all  so  fond  of  Mr.  An 
dross.  Tweet!  tweet!  How  can  you  make  these  wild 
birds  know  you?  I  have  canaries  always:  Lily,  I  call 
my  little  darling  now." 

"Don't  like  to  cage  things,"  gruffly. 

"  Oh,  I  must  have  something  to  pet  and  love! "  turn 
ing  her  pleading  eyes  to  Bell.  "I've  had  such  a  disap 
pointment  in  Fidele !  I  gave  her  gin  regularly  every  day 
to  keep  her  the  proper  size,  and  in  spite  of  all  my  care 
she's  grown  into  a  great  coarse  beast !  I  had  to  send  her 
away.  I'll  run  down  now.  By-by  birdies!"  and  she 
went  down  singing  in  a  bird-like  voice  that  made  the  old 
house  alive  with  music. 

Bell  looked  after  her  perplexed.  "  Well,  she's  an  affec 
tionate  little  thing!  But  I  really  thought  she  cared  for 
Jack!"  She  never  could  have  guessed  Anna's  habit  of 
suddenly  folding  up  her  secrets  and  hiding  them  just  as 
she  did  her  lace  collars  and  little  puffs  of  scent-bags. 
The  little  lady's  thoughts  did  not  run  into  the  Land  o' 
the  Leal  of  which  she  was  singing.  "Jack  called  her 
the  '  ox-eyed.'  She's  like  an  ox!"  nodding  her  head 
viciously  back.  "  Just  as  slow  and  stupid  and  obstinate 


64:  JOHK    ANDROSS. 

when  her  feet  are  down.  I  threw  her  off  the  trail  about 
Andross,  at  any  rate.  Poor  fellow ! "  and  the  soft  eyes 
slowly  filled. 

"  Oh,  Colonel!  I  thought  I  should  find  you  here!7' 
running  up  with  both  hands  out.  The  colonel,  his 
coarse,  gray  clothes  in  martinet  order,  his  scant  gray 
hair  brushed  up  in  a  top-knot  to  cover  the  bald  pate, 
took  them  in  his  and  bowed  in  a  tender,  soldierly  fashion 
over  them.  But  Anna  could  not  wait  to  hear  his  old- 
fashioned  compliments.  "Come  out  to  the  garden; 
we've  plenty  of  time  before  breakfast,  and — I — I  have 
something  to  say  to  you.  Don't  be  frightened ! "  with  a 
piteous  sob,  when  they  were  seated  behind  the  grape- 
trellis — "Oh,  you  dear  Colonel,  you  look  more  frightened 
than  I  am!  Oh,  if  I  had  such  a  father  as  you!" 

"Why,  the  judge  spoils  you,  my  child!  You're  noth 
ing  but  a  petted  little  baby!  Tut!  tut!"  as  her  warm 
tears  rained  on  his  wrinkled  hand,  wondering  if  Maddox 
could  possibly  be  stern  with  such  a  creature.  "Really, 
my  dear!  I'll  call  Bell.  Bell  is  the  kindest  soul  if  there's 
trouble " 

"No,  no!"  drying  her  hot  cheeks.  "I'm  quiet  now. 
But  I  could  not  control  myself  any  longer.  I've  been  so 
unhappy !  It's  about  Mr.  Andross,  sir. " 

"  Mr.  Andross?"  gravely.     "  Yes.     Well,  my  dear?" 

The  colonel  suspected  no  acting  in  Anna,  and  indeed 
there  was  none.  The  whole  of  her  force  of  body  and  soul 
spoke  truthfully  in  every  look  and  word. 

"  He  has  had  some  great  mysterious  trouble,  and  I 
must  help  him.  I  want  to  be  of  some  use  in  the  world, 
and  I'm  so  little!"  twisting  the  soft,  snowy  hands  to 
gether.  "He's — he's  a  good  friend  of  mine,  sir." 

"  Yes.     I  understand,  my  child." 

'  Her  lovely,  imploring  face  was  upturned  to  his.  "ISTow 
I  think,"  chirping  like  a  bird,  "that  he  has  committed 
some  dreadful  crime." 


JOHK  ANDROSS,  65 

"  God  bless  my  soul!    Andross!" 

"Yes,  indeed,  sir.  I  suppose  that  is  why  he  went 
away  the  other  day.  So  I  thought  I'd  ask  you  what  it 
was.  Was  it  drinking?  or  gambling?  or  what?" 

"Tut!  tut!  These  women!  I  thought  you'd  discov 
ered  a  murder  at  least.  Why  no,  Miss  Maddox.  Mr. 
Andross  always  appeared  to  me  to  be  a  perfectly  temper 
ate  man,  and  so  far  as  I  know,  can't  tell  one  card  from 
another.  I  suppose  he  was  out  gunning  or  fishing.  It's 
hardly  fair  to  ask  a  man  to  expose  every  hour  of  his  life, 
when  you  look  at  the  thing  closely." 

"You  don't  think  he  is  very  fond  of  women,  sir?  Sup 
pose  he  had  a  wife  concealed  somewhere?" 

The  colonel  reddened  like  a  girl;  he  turned  away  from 
the  innocent  face  watching  his.  "  I  never  have  seen  any 
more  dangerous  affections  in  him  than  for  old  china  or 
rare  editions. "  He  looked  at  her  with  a  meaning  smile. 
"It's  not  for  me  to  hint  that  he  cares  for  her,"  he 
thought.  "Now,  my  dear,"  rising,  "we  must  go  into 
breakfast.  My  advice  to  you  is  to  talk  to  Mr.  Andross 
himself,  and  offer  your  aid  to  reform  him.  You  have 
some  unwholesome  megrims  in  your  head,  and  I  think 
Jack  can  cure  them." 

He  led  her  gallantly  along  the  unweeded  path,  joking  ^ 
about  every  subject  but  her  lover.  "  For  he  must  be  her 
lover,"  he  thought.  "And  Maddox  approves,  or  he 
would  not  throw  them  together.  God  bless  them  both. 
I've  helped  them  together  with  that  advice,  or  I'm  mis 
taken." 

For  the  colonel  was  a  born  match-maker.    Every  young    , 
man  in  his  eyes  was  a  noble  fellow,  and  every  maiden 
exceptionally  pure  and  beautiful,  and  all  that  was  needed 
to  regenerate  the  world  was  to  drill  them  in  couples,  as 
Noah  did  the  animals  into  the  ark. 


AHDROSS. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

ANNA,  with  the  conviction  full  upon  her  that  she 
was  the  heroine  of  a  tragic  drama,  thought  fit  to 
greet  Andross,  who  was  waiting  at  the  hall-door,  with  a 
shy  blushing  dignity,  very  sweet  and  lovable. 

"You  look  so  well  this  morning!"  said  Isabel,  holding 
out  her  hand  to  him  heartily. 

"Come,  children!  To  breakfast!  to  breakfast!"  cried 
the  colonel,  as  Oth,  having  slipped  on  a  white  apron  and 
turned  from  cook  into  waiter,  opened  the  door  with  a 
nourish. 

The  table  was  bright,  the  scent  of  roses  and  coffee 
mingled  deliciously.  They  all  hurried  in  together.  How 
could  he  stop  then  and  there,  and  begin  the  dreadful  story 
of*Ris  life?  He  had  come  down  prepared  to  make  confes 
sion,  and  here  he  was  instead,  opening  his  napkin  and 
telling  the  colonel  the  price  of  beef  in  Lock  Haven. 

"  Try  a  piece  of  this  sirloin,  now.  They  killed  their 
young  heifer  at  Judge  Maddox's  yesterday,  and  Sam 
brought  over  this  steak  a  few  minutes  ago." 

"Yes,  sah,  just  in  time.  Very  lucky,  sah!"  ejaculated 
Oth. 

"It's  our  turn  to  kill  a  sheep  to-morrow;  don't  forget, 
Bell.  The  beans  are  ripe  enough  to  send  round  with  it 
to  the  neighbors." 

It  was  just  the  commonplace  homely  talk  to  bring  Jack 
back  to  his  old  self.  If  Braddock  had  had  the  weight  of 
crime  on  his  conscience  he  could  neither  have  eaten  nor 
drunken;  but  Andross  was  made  of  different  metal.  He 


JOHK  ANDROSS.  67 

had  been  half  starved  on  the  mountains,  and  the  beef  was 
deliriously  cooked,  the  butter  fragrant  with  vernal  grass; 
they  all  laughed  and  talked  gossip  and  of  the  news  in  last 
week's  papers;  they  lingered  lazily  over  the  meal,  after 
the  colonel  and  Bell's  careless,  happy  fashion;  the  win 
dow  was  open,  and  beyond  rose  old  Nittany,  his  robe  of 
sombre  cedar  white  with  chestnut-blooms;  the  running 
water  outside  whispered  and  talked  aloud  at  times;  it 
was  impossible  to  Jack  not  to  fancy  that  they  were  real 
footsteps  and  voices  growing  cheerfuller  every  minute. 
The  sun  struck  a  warm  beam  across  Anna's  tender  little 
face,  but  he  would  not  look  at  that;  he  turned  to  watch 
it  light  the  bunch  of  laurel  on  the  table  into  rosy  splen 
dour.  He  was  going  to  drive  Anna  back  to  Gray  Eagle 
mountain  presently,  and  then  go  to  his  work  in  the  office. 
As  for  crime  or  danger  it  began  to  be  as  far  off  and  long 
ago  to  him  as  the  old  stories  of  the  war  which  the  colonel 
was  telling.  He,  too,  had  his  old  stories  to  tell,  and  he 
knew  how  Anna  hung  on  every  syllable,  as  Desdemona 
on  the  Moor's. 

"  It  was  my  short-sight  that  always  bothered  me,"  the 
colonel  said.  "  It  never  played  me  such  a  trick  though 
as  in  the  battle  at  Antietam — you  know,  Bell?  I've  told 
you  the  story  a  dozen  times.  I  suddenly  saw  an  opening 
where  I  thought  my  regiment  could  be  used  with  effect, 
Mr.  Andross,  and  brought  them  up  at  a  gallop,  cheering 
as  we  came,  when  I  met  Joe  Thompson — Thompson  of 
Chicago — you  may  have  heard  of  him;  a  grain  man  form 
erly,  colonel  like  myself;  shot  before  Eichmond,  poor 
fellow,  plumb  through  the  heart.  'Where  the  deuce  are 
you  going,  Tom?'  he  shouts.  'To  the  front!' I  cry. 
'Stop,  stop!'  he  hallooes  after  me,  like  John  Gilpin's 
wife  when  the  mare  ran  away  with  him.  But  on  we  went 
up  the  hill,  my  men  cheering  louder  than  ever,  and,  I 
fancied,  laughing.  Well,  sir,  it  wasn't  until  we  had  gone 
up  the  hill  and  come  back  again,  bringing  the  enemy's 


68  JOHtf  AKDBOSS. 

cannon  with  us,  that  I  discovered  it  was  Joe's  regiment  I 
had  taken  and  left  my  own  in  the  van.  One-third  of  his 
poor  fellows  were  left  on  the  ground.  But  we  took  the 
guns!" 

"  Short  sight,"  laughed  Andross,  "would  have  been  a 
serious  obstacle  in  my  way;  for,  when  I  was  appointed  to 
my  captaincy,  I  did  not  precisely  take  Hardee's  tactics  on 
the  parade-ground,  but  I  copied  the  orders  I  had  to  give 
in  shorthand  on  the  palm  of  my  glove,  and  read  them 
off." 

"You  were  in  the  army,  then?"  asked  the  colonel. 

"Yes,"  with  some  embarrassment,  " for  two  years.  I 
was  forced  to  give  up  my  commission  then  and  go  back 
to  business." 

Colonel  Latimer  caressed  his  scanty  imperial  triumph 
antly  and  looked  at  Anna.  "  Here's  a  vicious  criminal 
for  you!  This  brave  soldier!"  his  eyes  said. 

Andross  saw  the  glance,  and  was  driven  by  it  into  reso 
lution.  The  colonel  was  his  ally;  he  should  know  all  as 
soon  as  breakfast  was  over. 

Just  as  they  rose  from  the  table  the  splash  of  a  horse's 
feet  coming  through  the  ford  was  heard,  and  the  next 
minute  Braddock  came  in  with  an  odd  air  of  repressed 
excitement  in  his  stiff  figure  and  lean  face.  Anna  was 
first  'to  coo  out  a  welcome,  especially  cordial  because  of 
the  admiration  she  felt  for  his  neat  new  office  suit  and 
dazzlingly  white  linen. 

Andross,  dear  fellow,  always  had  a  towzled  look,  like  a 
brigand  in  the  chorus  of  an  opera.  It  was  picturesque, 
but  not  gentlemanly. 

"I  came  to  drive  youT>ver  home,  Miss  Maddox,"  the 
doctor  said.  "  But  I  started  so  early  that  I  shall  be  glad 
of  a  cup  of  coffee  if  Miss  Latimer  will  give  me  one."  He 
sat  down  by  Isabel  with  that  change  in  his  voice  as  he 
named  her  which  always  brought  the  blood  to  her  cheeks. 

"Why,  Andross  could  have  taken  charge  of  our  little 


JOHN"   AXDROSS.  69 

girl/'  said   Colonel    Latimer,  bluntly.      "Maddox  has 
trusted  her  to  his  driving  a  hundred  times." 

"I  feel  responsible  for  her  safe  return  this  time/' 
replied  the  doctor  drily.  ({ A  drop  more  cream,  please." 

Anna  leaned  back  in  her  chair  looking  at  him  through 
her  half -shut  eyes.  She  knew  as  plainly  as  though  he 
had  told  her,  that  for  some  reason  he  would  not  trust  her 
to  Andross  for  an  hour.  Was  it  because  Jack  was  less 
his  friend  than  he  had  been,  or  that  she — was  more? 
She  got  up  and  sauntered  thoughtfully  out  into  the  gar 
den.  Andross,  after  one  angry  stare  at  Braddock,  rose 
with  a  sudden  cowed  look. 

"  Can  I  speak  to  you  one  moment,  colonel,  before  I 
go?"  he  said. 

Braddock  nodded  to  him  kindly  as  he  passed.  "  I  told 
Sam  to  bring  over  the  mare  for -you,  Jack." 

f '  Thank  you.  I  don't  know  yet  whether  I  shall — 
whether  I  shall  go  back  to  the  "Works  at  all  or  not. " 

After  they  had  gone  out,  the  doctor  said  abruptly:  " If 
that  man  does  not  come  back  to  the  Works,  Isabel,  it 
would  hurt  me  as  though  some  one  had  died.  Yet  he's 
very  faulty — very  faulty,  indeed." 

(( Why  would  you  not  leave  Anna  with  him,  Clay  ?" 

Now  Isabel  was  too  blunt  and  large-natured  to  be  sus 
ceptible  to  small  jealousy;  but  she  was  startled  at  a  cer 
tain  expression  in  his  face,  and  the  effort  he  made  to  hide 
it  from  her.  She  had  been  leaning  over  to  put  a  laurel- 
bud  in  his  button-hole;  she  waited,  her  gray  eyes  fixed 
on  his.  "You  came  for  that  reason?  You  have  had  no 
sleep  at  all,  and  certainly  did  not  come  directly  back  to 
take  a  cup  of  coffee  with  me  f " 

"No,  not  you,  dear.  But  Anna — really  she's  nothing 
but  an  innocent  baby;  and  the  judge  gives  her  her  way 
too  much.  She  is  one  of  those  women  whose  love  is  for 
life  and  death,  Bell.  And  if  she  were  disappointed  in  a 
man  it  would  kill  her.  She  has  not  your  resources  of 


70  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

strong  common-sense,  you  see.  I  think  somebody  ought 
to  protect  her." 

"  You  are  very  kind,  Clay;  and  right,"  she  added,  after 
a  pause.  But  she  began  to  crumble  bread  for  her  spar 
rows,  and  the  bit  of  laurel  fell  to  the  floor. 

" There  he  is  with  her  now!"  starting  up.  "I  must 
go  at  once,  Isabel,"  hurrying  out  to  his  buggy. 

Miss  Latimer  stood  silent  and  grave  in  the  door  for  a 
minute  or  two,  and  then  went  down  to  the  gate,  bidding 
the  doctor  and  his  companion  good-by,  ready  to  laugh 
with  them  both  as  usual.  "  One  never  knows  whether 
Miss  Latimer  is  in  earnest  or  not  when  she  jests  with 
one,"  complained  Anna  as  they  drove  off. 

The  doctor  did  not  answer.  Bell's  easy  good-nature 
jarred  on  him.  He  wished  indeed  her  sensibilities  were 
deeper,  more  earnest — like  this  dear  little  creature's,  for 
instance. 

The  little  creature  was  dumb  and  cold  to  him  all  the 
way  home  however.  Andross  had  spoken  but  a  few 
words  to  her,  and  they  were  of  no  import.  But  his  face 
had  appalled  her.  "What  bar  did  he  see  between  us?" 
she  wrote  in  her  diary  that  evening.  "Was  he  taking 
leave  of  me  forever?  He  is  in  imminent  need  and  peril. 

/will  be  true  to  him.  As  for  C.  B. ?  I  shall  not 

deny  that  there  have  been  times  when  his  soul  has  called 
to  me  and  mine  has  answered.  But  I  am  tired  of  hearing 
Aristides  called  the  just!  I  wash  my  hands  of  him.  I 
shall  leave  him  to  his  proper  tailor,  and  proper  church, 
and — proper  wife !  Let  them  dwell  in  decencies  forever. 
While  I — alas!  What  fate  betides  Andross?  There — 
just  Heaven,  lies  my  doom!!" 


JOHN   ANDROSS.  71 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

«~T/r~OU  wished  to  consult  me  about  something,  eh? 

-*-  Take  a  cigar,"  said  the  colonel  when  they  were 
alone.  (i  He  wants  to  know  how  best  to  ask  the  judge 
for  his  daughter,"  he  thought.  "  The  poor  fellow  has 
but  a  clerk's  salary,  and  Maddox  has  laid  by  a  pretty 
sum;  there's  the  hitch,  no  doubt."  And  the  old  man 
knitted  his  brows,  studying  over  for  Jack  the  old  problem 
which  he  had  not  solved  for  himself,  of  an  empty  pocket 
and  the  ills  which  it  is  heir  to. 

e( I  wish,"  said  Andross  in  a  sharp,  hurried  tone,  "to 
make  a  plain  statement  of  a  business  affair  to  you,  and  to 
ask  your  opinion  as  a  man  of  honour  and  of  the  world. 
I — I  hardly  can  tell  what  is  right  and  what  is  wrong  " — 
leaning  against  the  fence,  his  hand  to  his  mouth.  The 
colonel,  however,  unlike  Braddock,  did  not  speculate  on 
its  weakness. 

" Business?  Very  well,  go  on,"  nodding.  "I  know 
nothing  more  of  honour  than  yourself,  Mr.  Andross;  but 
as  for  the  world,  I'd  be  very  sorry,"  straightening  his  hat 
on  his  gray  hair  solemnly,  "very  sorry  that  such  a  lad  as 
you  had  detected  the  insincerity,  the  iniquity  of  it  as  I 
have  done!  Necessarily,  sir,  necessarily!  Age  brings  us 
that  wisdom."  He  stopped  and  waited  with  the  air  of  a 
blase  Solomon  and  Areopagite  judge  rolled  into  one. 
Andross  was  tempted  to  laugh,  but  went  on: 

"About  1857  a  man  of  much  repute  in  Philadelphia 
died.  He  was  the  father  of — of  a  friend  of  mine.  He 


72  JOHN    ANDROSS. 

belonged  to  an  old  Irish-Kentucky  family — headlong, 
generous,  fond  of  good  living.  A  scholarly  man,  too, 
but  with  no  more  knowledge  of  money " 

"Than  to  count  the  debts  he  couldn't  pay,"  laughed 
the  colonel.  "Bless  you,  I  know  dozens  of  that  old 
stock.  Never  paid  butcher  or  baker  until  they  came  as 
beggars,  and  then  flung  them  all  that  was  in  his  pockets, 
eh?" 

"Something  very  like  that.  But  no  character  stood 
higher  than  this  man's  in  the  city  for  integrity  and 
benevolence.  It  does  so  still.  The  boy  was  left  at  his 
father's  death  at  college,  his  bills  unpaid,  without  a 
penny.  A  friend  of  his  father's  took  notice  of  him — 
studied  his  capabilities  pretty  closely,  I  suspect,  and 
finally  charged  himself  with  his  support  and  education. 
When  he  was  ready  to  go  to  work,  through  this  friend's 
influence,  a  situation  as  superintendent  of  certain  manu 
factories  in  an  inland  town  in  Pennsylvania  was  found  for 
him,  with  a  high  salary." 

"  A  very  unusual  post  for  a  college  boy." 

"Yes;  he  was  totally  ignorant  of  the  business,  and  is 
so  to  this  day." 

"How's  that?  The  friend  dropped  him  into  what  in 
Bowery  talk  was  a  good  thing,  eh?  Pay  and  no  work?" 

"He  worked  well  for  his  wages,"  bitterly.  "This 
friend  was  the  president  of  a  great  corporation;  it  does 
not  matter  what,  but  one  that  needed  bills  passed  at  Har- 
risburgh  sometimes,  and  was  able  to  pay  for  the  passage. 
To  do  this  they  must  have  tools  in  the  Legislature,  and 
to  help  elect  these  tools  was  the  business  of  this  young 
fellow.  He  was  popular  with  the  workmen ;  he  soon 
found  that  his  duty  was  to  manipulate  them;  any  man 
who  voted  against  his  employers  was  discharged.  The 
man  was  a  careless  dog,  but  not  unjust;  there  was  much 
in  this  sort  of  work  which  disgusted  him,  but  what  could 
he  do?  His  benefactor  had  indulged  him  like  a  petted 


JOHN   ANDROSS.  73 

boy,  humoured  his  every  whim.,  nursed  expensive  and 
fantastic  tastes  in  him.  He  loved  the  man.  It  was  not 
only  for  his  salary  he  bent  his  head  until  they  put  the 
yoke  about  his  neck." 

"I'm  sure  of  that!"  energetically.  "I'm  sure  he  was 
a  noble  fellow!  Blood  tells,  sir.  He  came  of  a  good 
strain. " 

"After  awhile  other  work  was  exacted  of  him.  He 
was  sent  to  Harrisburgh  to  '  lobby ! '  You  know  what  that 
is.  He  soon  found  that  the  little  of  good  which  he  had, 
the  lazy  good-humour,  the  friendly  manner,  was  the 
stock  in  trade  upon  which  these  men  were  working. 
They  presumed  on  it — they  took  him  into  their  secrets, 
and  then,  when  he  rebelled  and  would  have  left  them  and 
made  an  honest  man  of  himself,  they  dared  not  lose  him. 
He  knew  too  much." 

Colonel  Latimer  nodded  gravely,  but  said  nothing. 
He  began  to  watch  Andross  closely  as  he  talked,  finding 
apparently  some  new  meaning  in  his  carefully-worded 
sentences. 

"  Matters  went  on  in  this  way  for  a  year.  They  made 
him  the  cat's-paw  by  which  much  of  the  trickery  and 
bribery  or  dirty  work  of  any  kind  needed  by  an  unscrupu 
lous,  powerful  body  of  men  was  done.  "When  he " 

"  Pardon  me !  One  moment.  Your  friend's  story  does 
not  hang  together  well.  A  young  fellow  with  abilities  as 
fair  as  his  could  have  made  enough  in  any  legitimate 
business  in  six  months,  to  pay  off  the  trifling  sum  in 
which  he  was  indebted  to  his  patron.  Men  are  not  held 
as  serfs  by  an  I.  0.  U.,  Mr.  Andross.  Or  perhaps," 
noting  his  change  of  countenance,  "you  have  not  told 
me  all  the  hold  they  had  upon  him." 

"No,  I  have  not."  After  a  moment's  pause  he  went 
on,  with  a  still  more  guarded  and  cold  manner:  "When 
he  began  to  make  arrangements  to  go  into  some  other 
business,  his  patron,  as  you  call  him,  came  to  him  one 


74  JOHN   ANDROS3. 

day.  There  was  no  hint  of  threat,  you  understand,  of 
dishonesty  in  the  work  they  had  set  him,  or  of  dread  that 
he  would  "betray  them.  It  was  all  civil,  friendly  business 
talk.  'You're  talking  of  leaving  us/  he  said.  'I'm  sorry 
for  that.  You've  got  into  the  ways  of  the  office  and  the 
routine  in  which  the  company  like  things  to  he  done.  It 
will  he  hard  to  find  another  man  to  fill  your  place.  By 
the  way,'  and  he  drew  out  his  pocket-hook  and  began  to 
unstrap  it,  'here  is  an  old  document  I  have  had  in  my 
possession  some  ten  or  twelve  years.  As  long  as  you  were 
one  of  the  firm,  as  I  might  say,  it  was  properly  kept  in 
the  firm.  But  when  you  leave  us,  of  course  we  shall  not 
feel  entitled  to  retain  it.  The  matter  there  is  of  public 
interest,  as  you  see."3 

"What  was  in  the  paper?"  eagerly.  "  A  bribe  to  keep 
quiet,  eh?" 

"  Such  a  bribe  as  no  money  could  have  equalled.  This 
— this  poor  tool's  father,  it  seems,  had  committed  a  forg 
ery.  It  was  known  only  to  the  leaders  of  the  Eing. 
They  reaped  the  benefit  of  it,  and  afterwards  held  him 
by  the  neck  throttled,  and  drove  him  as  they  chose,  just 
as  they  had  driven  his  son.  '  When  you  leave  us,'  said 
this  kind  guardian,  'to  make  an  honest  livelihood,  as 
you  say,  your  love  of  justice,  no  doubt,  will  be  gratified  by 
seeing  this  document  in  print.  It  will  cause  a  little  stir 
in  Philadelphia,  I  suppose,  for  the  old  man  was  a  favorite 
there,  and  it  seems  a  pity,  too;  now,  don't  it?  for  his 
reputation  stands  fair  to  this  day."J 

"What  did  the  boy  do?" 

"He  could  not  sacrifice  his  father,"  said  Anaross, 
whose  excitement  had  died  out  and  who  stood  dully,  his 
hands  in  his  pockets  and  head  sunk  on  his  breast.  "Very 
likely  it  was  all  a  lie.  What  did  these  blood-suckers  care 
for  an  old  man's  good  name  who  was  dead  long  ago?  But 
he  had  no  way  of  proving  the  lie;  and  he  stayed  in  the 
works." 


JOHN  ANDROSS.  75 

"That  was  the  end  of  it  then?"  with  a  long  breath. 
"  He  was  wrong,  sir.  He  should  have  held  by  his  integ 
rity.  And  yet  if  I  thought  my  child  would  give  up  my 

honourable  name  from  the  grave Well,  well!    The 

boy  had  rough  lines." 

"  So  rough  and  so  vile  that  he  escaped;  ran  ~away  abso 
lutely  like  a  thief  in  the  night,  and  found  a  shelter  where 
they  could  not  follow  him.  As  long  as  they  did  not  know 
where  he  was,  he  was  safe  from  their  plan  of  vengeance. 
He  found  at  last  honourable  work  and  friends;  one  day 
an  agent,  one  of  the  underlings,  the  spies  of  this  com 
pany,  stumbled  upon  him  by  accident,  and  threatened  to 
tell  of  his  whereabouts.  He  was  a  man  to  be  bought  off 
by  a  comparatively  small  sum,  and  this  poor,  weak  wretch 
bought  him  off  with  money — that  he  had  stolen." 

"  Good  God!    What  insensate  folly!" 

"Perhaps  so.  You  would  not  have  done  it.  Brad- 
dook  would  not  have  done  it.  He  was  a  weak  man,  as  I 
said.  Now,  Colonel  Latimer,  what  can  be  done  with 
such  a  man?  Say  that  I  am  his  friend;  am  I  to  stand  by 
him?  is  there  any  hope  for  him,  that  after  knowing  his 
story,  you,  for  example,  would  take  him  by  the  hand — 
that  he  could  work  his  way  in  the  business  community, 
in  society,  love,  and  marry  as  other  men  do?" 

Now  the  colonel,  knowing  the  astuteness  of  his  own 
judgment  and  Jack's  youthful  ignorance  of  the  ways  of 
the  world,  had  been  forming  during  the  whole  narration 
his  own  sagacious  interpretation  of  it.  It  never  occurred 
to  him  that  Andross  was  the  hero  of  his  own  story;  but 
he  knew  it  was  some  sharper  who  had  trumped  it  up  to 
impose  upon  him.  The  colonel  had  been,  since  he  was  a 
boy,  the  victim  of  every  impostor  who  chose  to  practice 
on  his  credulity;  to-morrow,  as  to-day,  he  would  empty 
his  pockets  to  the  most  palpable  cheat  and  swear  he  was 
a  true  man;  but  in  the  meantime  he  inveighed  vehe 
mently  against  the  world  in  general  as  iniquitous,  and  per- 


76  JOHN    ANDROSS. 

petually  guarded  his  friends  against  imaginary  swindlers. 
He  was  fairly  mounted  on  his  hobby,  now. 

"My  dear  boy,"  he  said  energetically,  "depend  upon 
it,  you've  been  scandalously  imposed  upon!  I  know  the 
world.  Be  guided  by  me.  This  friend  of  yours  wants, 
no  doubt,  to  borrow  money  of  you." 

"  No,"  with  a  queer  smile. 

"  Well,  he  wants  you  to  indorse  him  socially,  back  him 
up  somehow;  take  my  word  for  it."  A  vivid  and  bright 
idea  flashed  on  the  colonel.  It  was  this  unknown  scoun 
drel  lurking  in  the  neighborhood,  no  doubt,  who  had 
tempted  Jack  into  the  mountains;  he  wanted  to  drag  him 
down  into  his  own  slough;  it  was  this  disreputable  inti 
macy  which  stood  between  Andross  and  Anna,  which  she 
suspected  to  be  secret  crime;  and  Braddock,  having  dis 
covered  it,  began  to  look  upon  Andross  himself  with  sus 
picion,  as  he  had  seen  that  morning. 

"Now,  sir,"  with  vivacity.  "  Let  me  judge  this  man 
impartially  for  you. " 

"  It  is  just  that  which  I  ask  you  to  do,"  said  Jack  with 
a  pallor  about  his  clean-shaven  jaws.  All  morning  he 
had  despised  himself,  as  he  talked,  for  his  confidences. 
Braddock,  any  other  man,  in  the  toils  of  these  men, 
would  have  fought  out  of  them,  not  have  gone  whining 
his  story  to  one  or  another.  Andross,  like  a  woman, 
must  have  sympathy  at  every  step.  But  he  was  satisfied 
now  that  it  was  a  wise  thing  to  do.  The  colonel  was  a 
more  merciful  judge  than  any  other  he  would  meet;  if  he 
condemned  him  it  was  useless  to  struggle  back  for  hon 
esty  or  honourable  position  again.  If  he  said  there  was  a 

chance .  "I  want  your  judgment,"  he  repeated. 

"  Much  depends  on  it  for  me." 

"Yes,  I  see.  I  see.  Well,  it  is  my  opinion  that  this 
fellow,  according  to  his  own  story,  is  a  dead-beat,  as  the 
police  would  call  him,  of  the  worst  kind.  Why,  look  at 
it;  he's  the  son  of  a  man  careless  about  money,  and  a 


AtfDROSS.  77 

forger.  Blood  tells,  sir.  No  sooner  does  he  leave  college 
than  he  goes  into  the  business  of  bribery  and  corruption 
up  to  the  elbows;  according  to  his  own  showing,  mind 
you!  Then  he  runs  off  from  his  employers,  and  when 
traced  by  them,  steals  another  man's  money  to  buy  them 
off!  It  all  looks  badly,  Mr.  Andross.  Even  if  the  exten 
uating  facts  be  true,  I  shall  be  very  much  inclined  to 
question  whether  his  birth  and  the  influence  of  his  busi 
ness  had  not  demoralized  his  moral  sense,  so  that  stealing 
came  confoundedly  easy  to  him.  An  honest  man  would 
never  have  thought  of  bribing  the  agent,  certainly  not 
have  robbed  another  man  to  do  it.  My  advice  to  you  is 
to  let  him  alone,  to  dree  his  own  wierd.  Don't  saddle 
yourself  with  a  weak,  wicked  fellow  at  your  age.  You 
have  a  good  prospect  before  you  now,  and  such  a  man  as 
that  would  drag  you  back  irretrievably,  injure  you  in 
every  way,  in  business,  or — or  your  plans  nearer  home. 
You  follow  me?" 

"Yes.  You  are  easily  understood,  Colonel." 
Jack  began  to  button  his  coat  mechanically,  turned  his 
face,  which  was  as  unlike  to  the  real  Jack  and  as  vague  and 
hard  as  a  mask  taken  after  death,  down  the  road,  as  a 
man  does  whose  business  is  finally  over,  and  who  is  in 
haste  to  go. 

"  One  minute,  Mr.  Andross."  The  colonel,  vain  of 
his  shrewd  judicial  decision,  wanted  to  give  the  whole  of 
it.  "I  am  the  more  convinced  of  the  falsity  of  the  whole 
story,  because  I  happen  to  know  that  the  statement 
respecting  the  power  and  corruption  of  the  Kings  is 
grossly  overstated.  That  sort  of  abuse  of  great  e<fr- 
porations  is  all  political  jobbery.  AVh^, •  td  credit  the 
newspapers,  you'd  suppose  these  men  scruple  at  nothing 
— not  even  murder!  All  clap-trap!  Oh!  T  know  the 
world.  These  stories  are  set  afloat-  just  before  election. 
Very  naturally  these  great  corporations  have  their  favorite 
candidates,  and  these  vile  rumours  are  started  by  men 


78  JOHN   ANDKOSS. 

envious  of  their  better  luck,  or  by  some  discharged  work 
men.  Your  friend,  if  not  one  of  those  who  have  origi 
nated  the  scandals,  has  been  weak  and  wicked  enough  to 
believe  them." 

"Weak  and  wicked?    Yes,  I  believe  you  are  right." 

Was  he  right? 

Andross's  brilliant  dark  eyes  stared  at  the  colonel  as 
though  he  saw  a  ghost  in  the  daylight;  but  it  was  the 
spectre  of  himself,  as  this  man  showed  him.  Was  all  the 
honesty  of  which  he  had  boasted  a  sham?  Had  his  father 
been  a  forger  and  given  his  tainted  blood  to  him?  He 
had  slipped  easily  into  the  work  of  bribery  at  first :  had 
taken  the  money  with  but  little  hesitation  to  bribe  the 
spy  last  Saturday.  Braddock  would  never  have  been  so 
tempted.  To  be  sure  he  had  been  in  a  hell  of  remorse 
ever  since,  but  what  did  that  matter? 

"Yes,  trust  me,"  the  colonel  broke  in;  "the  man, 
even  if  his  story  be  true,  is  thoroughly  demoralized. 
Better  leave  him  to  his  fate. " 

"Yes,  he  had  better  be  left, to  his  fate." 

"That's  all  right,  then.  The  fact  is,  Mr.  Andross,  I 
don't  want  to  see  you  ruin  yourself.  I  take  an  interest 
in  you — everybody  does  to  a  curious  degree.  You've  got 
that  sort  of  magnetism,  that  strong  personality  about 
you,  which  makes  people  your  foes  or  friends  on  sight." 
He  unlatched  the  gate,  for  they  had  turned  to  the  house, 
and  gossiped  on,  not  noticing  that  Jack  neither  heard 
nor  answered.  "It's  a  power,  sir.  'It's  not  exactly 
virtue,  nor  good  looks  either.  Henry  Clay  had  it.  By 
George!  there  are  some  tones  of  that  dead  man's  voice 
which  have  more  power  over  me  even  yet  than  any  living 
man's  logic;  anof  that  little  doctor,  the  Boston  laureate, 
he's  full  of  it  aV#  Connecting  wire  with  electricity.  I 
dined  with  all  those  fellows  once,  and  Emerson  appeared 
to  me  to  be  a  bit  of  sneer  intellect,  looking  at  men  and 
women  as  a  profitable  drama;  every  one  of  us  gave  him 


JOHN   ANDKOSS.  79 

our  best.  Why,  even  I,  a  dull  experimenter  in  furnaces, 
believed  I  had  something  for  him.  Hawthorne  was  like 
one  of  his  own  beautiful  uncanny  ghosts;  but  Holmes 
was  a  man  of  men.  Well,  you  have  that  same  human 
attraction  in  you,"  looking  down  at  him  kindly.  "  Odd, 
isn't  it?  Men  that  have  it  impress  one  as  women  do; 
that's  why  I  talk  in  this  unpractical  fashion  to  you,  I 
suppose,"  breaking  off  with  a  laugh.  "Well,  now  that 
this  business  is  settled,  what  shall  we  do?  stay  with  us 
to-day,  Mr.  Andross,  or  must  you  go  down  to  the 
Works?" 

Jack  roused  himself;  he  had  heard  only  the  last  sen 
tence.  "I'll  go  down  to  the  Works.  I  must  see  Miss 
Maddox  again  before — before  I  go." 

Must  he  go?  Even  as  he  spoke  that  desperate  courage 
which  belongs  to  men  who  lack  backbone,  nerved  him. 
Why  not  stay,  work  his  way,  keep  his  secret — marry 
Anna?  Why  not  catch  some  good  from  life  as  it  passed? 

"  I  wish  you  could  stay.  Or  come  back  this  evening. 
There  is  a  friend  of  mine  coming  up  to-day  from  Phila 
delphia,  whom  I  should  like  you  to  meet,  to  convince 
you  how  unjust  these  stories  about  Kings  are.  My  friend 
controls  one  of  the  most  powerful  in  Philadelphia  and 
New  York,  and  a  more  estimable  man  I  defy  you  to  find, 
in  every  relation  of  life.  Tender  husband  and  father, 
head  of  Christian  associations,  aged  workmen's  homes, 
hospitals — I  don't  know  what  charities " 

"What  is  his  name?"  Andross  stopped  short  in  the 
wet  path.  He  looked  for  an  instant,  white  man  as  he 
was,  like  a  slave  when  the  bloodhounds  catch  sight  of 
him  hidden  in  the  swamp.  But  the  colonel  was  busy 
lifting  his  tomato-vines  on  to  the  posts,  and  did  not 
answer  at  once. 

"What  did  you  say  was  your  friend's  name?" 

"Oh?  I  beg  your  pardon.  These  vines  are  so  beaten 
down  by  the  rain.  He's  really  more  a  business  acquaint- 


80  JOH:S  ANDBOSS. 

ance  than  a  friend — Laird  is  his  name.  Houston  Laird. 
Are  you  not  going  to  the  house?"  as  Andross  turned  and 
walked  hastily  but  uncertainly  away.  He  followed  and 
fell  in  step  again  with  him.  There  was  silence  which 
the  colonel  found  awkward. 

"How  long  does  Laird  stay  with  you?" 

"  Only  a  day  or  two,"  looking  suddenly  at  Andross, 
struck  by  a  change  in  his  tone.  "I'll  bring  him  over  to 
the  Works  to-morrow.  In  fact,  he  mentioned  having 
business  there  with  some  one,  in  his  letter;  probably 
Maddox.  But  I  want,"  heartily,  pressing  closer,  "I 
really  am  anxious,  Mr.  Andross,  for  you  to  meet  Laird. 
It  would  tend  to  disabuse  you  of  your  prejudices;  and 
besides  he  might  be  able  to  serve  you  in  business  relations. 
He  is  really  a  financial  power  in  the  country,  as  you 
know;  and  the  most  genial,  friendliest  fellow!  He  de 
lights  in  gathering  young  men  about  him  in  his  office — 
religious  clubs  and  so  forth — and  shaping  their  future 
course. " 

"Yes,  I  have  heard  of  Mr.  Laird  and  the  influence  he 
has  over  young  men." 

"Ah?"  with  another  perplexed  scrutiny  of  Andross's 
face.  "I  wished  to  mention  you  to  him  especially.  It 
can  do  no  harm?" 

"No.  It  can  do  no  harm.  The  truth  is,  Colonel 
Latimer,"  abruptly,  "I  am  probably  the  person  Mr. 
Laird  wishes  to  see  in  the  Works.  We  have  met  before 
in  a  business  relation." 

"In  a  business  relation — I  did  not  know  that!"  stam 
mered  the  colonel,  and  a  moment  after  began  to  talk  of 
his  turnips.  It  was  not  like  Andross  to  be  so  reticent, 
and,  considering  his  anxious  efforts  to  serve  him,  scarcely 
civil. 


JOHN  ANDKOSS. 


81 


CHAPTER    IX. 

rpOWERS,  the  miller,  who  was  down  in  Lock  Haven 
J-  that  day,  drove  Mr.  Laird  up  in  his  buck  wagon. 
He  charged  him  a  dollar  and  a  half:  "putting  on  the 
fifty  cents  extra,  Colonel,"  he  explained  a  week  after 
ward,  "because  he  druv  the  mare  as  no  hurs  shud  be 
druv.  She's  lame  ever  since.  '  He's  a  millionaire,  he  can 
stan'  it,'  I  said  to  myself.  But  he  lays  me  down  seventy- 
five  cents.  It  was  cursedly  shabby." 

"Tut,  tut,  Towers,  Mr.  Laird  had  not  any  change; 
here's  your  money,"  tossing  down  a  note,  one  of  the  very 
thin  roll  in  his  watch  fob.  "  The  next  time,  don't  talk 
in  that  way  of  a  gentleman." 

"  So  he  left  this  fur  me,  did  he,  eh?"  with  a  suspicious 
glance  from  the  note  to  the  colonel. 

"That  fellow,  who  brought  me  up,  Latimer,"  Laird 
had  said  ten  minutes  after  arriving,  "wanted  to  over 
charge  me.  Talk  of  rural  simplicity!  I  find  Hodge  has 
just  as  itching  a  palm  at  the  plough  as  his  cousin  in 
town.  But  I  let  him  see  I  was  not  to  be  imposed  on." 
,  "Well,  well.  The  poor  devil  has  eleven  children  and 
an  aguish  wife,"  hesitated  the  colonel. 

"No  doubt,"  promptly.  "And  I'm*ready  to  give  lib 
erally  to  the  wife  and  children,"  thrusting  his  hands  into 
his  pockets,  his  blue  eyes  lighting  his  face  agreeably  as 
he  touched  the  money.  "But  how  could  I  give  alms  if  I 
did  not  watch  these  rascally  workmen?  I  venture  to  say, 
Latimer,  that  I  pay  my  employes,  from  the  head  clerk  to 


82  JOH^   ANDKOSS. 


the  porter,  ten  per  cent,  less  than  any  other  man  in  my 
business.  By  prudence  like  that  I  am  able  to  give  to  the 
poor  —  pay  my  tithes  to  the  Lord." 

Mr.  Laird  withdrew  to  dress  for  dinner,  which  he  did 
always  as  carefully  for  the  colonel's  picnicky  board  as  for 
his  own.  He  stopped  on  the  stairs,  however,  as  Colonel 
Latimer  escorted  him  up.  "You  did  not  answer  my 
letter,  Colonel?  You  have  a  couple  of  thousand  left  of 
your  capital,  you  say.  Let  me  take  charge  of  it  for  you. 
Put  it  into  this  new  National  Transit  stock,  and  I  insure 
it  to  pay  a  hundred  per  cent." 

"Tut,  Laird.  I  can't  be  hampered  with  thinking  of 
money.  Besides,  next  month  I  expect  to  succeed  wholly 
with  my  experiment.  Maddox  has  consented  to  give  me 
the  furnace  for  a  few  days  for  a  final  trial,  and  I  shall 
need  all  the  money  I  can  raise  to  reimburse  him  and  pay 
my  expenses."  They  had  reached  the  upper  landing  by 
this  time.  Laird  stopped  and  bridged  his  hawk-like  nose 
with  his  glasses.  "Ton  my  soul!  I've  known  many  a 
mad  inventor,  but  you're  the  worst  of  the  lot.  Think  of 
the  fortune  you've  sunk  in  this  thing  already,  Thomas. 
You  have  no  right  to  sacrifice  your  daughter  to  your 
whim:  leave  her  at  least  enough  to  keep  her  from  beg 
gary." 

The  colonel  laughed.  "What  do  you  want  for  her? 
She  has  plenty  to  eat  and  to  wear,  and  that  fiddle-faddle 
work  of  designing  brings  her  in  abundance  of  pin-money. 
Bell's  like  myself.  She  likes  to  vagabondize  leisurely 
through  life,  looking  out  for  the  green,  warm  places,  and 
carrying  no  impediment  in  the  shape  of  unnecessary  bag 
gage.  No,  sir.  •  Isabel  would  rather  I  should  use  that 
money  and  succeed  in  making  one  bar  of  pig-iron,  with 
wood  instead  of  charcoal,  than  that  you  should  pay  me  a 
thousand  per  cent." 

Laird  laughed,  looking  back  with  the  door-knob  of  his 
chamber  in  his  hand.  "  If  the  discovery  would  pay  you 


JOHN   ANDROSS.  83 

anything  when  you  make  it,  there  would  be  some  sense 
in  your  having  made  ducks  and  drakes  of  all  that  your 
father  left  you." 

"Pay  me?"  his  thin  face  heating.  "Why,  you  cer 
tainly  understand,  Laird,  my  object  is  to  make  this  busi 
ness  less  a  monopoly,  to  put  money  into  the  pockets  of 
the  poor  man,  not  to  take  it  out  with  a  royalty.  Smelt 
ing  can  be  done  at  one-third  the  cost  by  using  lumber 
instead  of  charcoal,  the  price  of  the  pig-iron  reduced  pro 
portionately — and — I'll  go  for  my  papers  and  show  you 
the  whole  thing  in  a  nutshell.  Just  wait  one  minute." 

"  To-night — after  dinner.  I'm  quite  sure  I  understand 
all  about  it  now,"  nodding  and  laughing  as  he  went  in 
and  shut  the  door.  He  laughed  again  to  himself  now 
and  then  while  he  was  dressing,  muttering  "of  all  the 
cursed  idiots ! "  but  in  the  same  tone  with  which  he  would 
have  spoken  to  his  own  children  when  their  childish  folly 
pleased  him. 

Laird,  especially  now  in  his  trousers  and  shirt-sleeves, 
was  a  gross-looking  fellow :  short,  squat,  his  heavy-jawed, 
high-featured  face  set  off  by  red  whiskers,  and  mustache. 
One  could  guess  at  a  glance  that  the  power  indicated  in 
this  face  was  that  of  a  bold,  unscrupulous  speculator,  and 
that  the  strongest  taste  and  enjoyment  of  the  man  lay  in 
his  wine  and  dinner,  the  "feeds"  with  which  he  and  two 
or  three  of  his  clique  usually  finished  the  day;  but  there 
was  a  trait,  a  sixth  sense,  which  lay  under  his  relish  for 
high  percentage,  or  terrapins,  that  insensibly  raised  him 
a  level  above  his  compatriot  feeders:  it  hindered  him 
from  ever  saying  a  coarse  word  before  his  children  or  such 
a  man  as  Latimer.  When  all  the  betting  world  was  down 
at  Jerome  Park,  Laird  went  off  for  a  lazy  day's  fishing  in 
the  hills;  when  his  friends  filled  their  boxes  at  the  Acad 
emy  of  Music,  chuckling  over  the  broad  shoulders  and 
broader  jokes  of  the  Opera  Bouffe,  or  delighted  at  Edwin 
Booth's  pretty  pictures,  Laird  jeered  at  them;  yet  he 


84  JOHN    AXDROSS. 

went  night  after  night  to  watch  old  Rip's  parting,  with 
his  daughter,  and  was  not  ashamed  to  be  seen  wiping  the 
tears  off  as  he  came  away.  The  colonel's  unconscious 
self-sacrifice  touched  him  now  with  a  certain  pathos,  just 
as  did  the  white  hairs  of  the  old  man  coming  hack  to  his 
own  to  find  himself  forgotten.  It  was  a  thing  which  he 
felt  Houston  Laird  might  have  done  in  another  and  a 
better  world.  "'  Can't  be  hampered  with  thinking  of 
money?'"  he  repeated,  drawing  on  his  boot  and  looking 
reflectively  at  the  toe.  "  That  was  finely  said  in  Latimer! 
Confoundedly  finely  said!  And  he  means  it!  That  old 
fool  don't  care  for  money  any  more  than  I  do  for  the  dust 
on  my  shoes.  Neither  does  old  Farroll,  starving  himself 
and  his  family  to  found  his  Inebriate  Asylum — drunken 
bloats!"  Laird  felt  himself  a  better  man  for  Latimer 
and  Farroll' s  whims  just  as  lie  did  after  listening  to  Joe 
Jefferson's  wonderful  rendition  of  nature,  or  one  of 
Thomas's  noble  symphonies;  but  it  did  not  follow  that 
he  had  the  least  intention  of  imitating  those  heroic  old 
idiots,  any  more  than  he  had  of  going  about  the  country 
acting  or  fiddling. 

When  his  boots  were  on,  he  dressed  himself  with  scru 
pulous  care  and  quiet,  hanging  as  sole  ornament  to  his 
plain  black  watch-guard  a  dull,  cracked  antique,  of  which 
he  had  lately  become  the  blest  possessor.  He  never  risked 
wearing  it  in  town. 

"  She  will  appreciate  it,"  he  thought.  In  the  hurry  of 
pushing  the  National  Transit  stock  during  the  spring  he 
had  really  forgotten  that  when  he  met  the  Latimers  in 
town  at  Christmas  he  had  asked  Isabel  to  marry  him. 
Of  course  it  all  came  freshly  back  now,  and  as  he  trim 
med  his  well-shaped  nails  he  half  made  up  his  mind  to 
do  it  again.  ' '  I  can  afford  to  marry  whom  I  choose,"  he 
thought.  It  was  in  obedience  to  this  sixth  sense  of  his 
that  the  ideas  of  a  wife  and  money  were  kept  strictly  apart. 
When  he  went  down  the  stairs  he  found  Isabel,  drawing, 


JOHK   ASTDKOSS.  85 

as  usual,  sitting  in  the  window.  It  was  a  hot  day. 
Laird's  eyes,  used  to  the  fulness  and  rainbow  colouring 
of  city  drawing-rooms,  Persian  carpets,  brocatelle,  buhl 
pictures,  and  old  china,  opened  with  a  sudden  sense  of 
coolness  and  rest  on  the  bareness  and  still,  pale  lights  of 
this  room;  the  floor  of  yellow  pine,  the  sweeping  curtains 
of  thin  gray  lawn,  the  big  round  table  covered  by  books, 
papers,  pipes,  and  sewing,  in  most  comfortable  disorder. 
The  light  was  sifted  in  through  a  honeysuckle,  its  crim 
son  tubes  flaming  in  the  sun,  and  touched  Isabel's  white 
neck  and  reddish-brown  hair  as  she  bent  over  her  pencil 
and  blocks  of  wood.  Outside,  a  purple  butterfly  sat  on 
the  moth-eaten  window-sill,  and  flapped  its  gold-dusted 
wings  drowsily  in  the  still  heat;  the  mountain  alone 
looked  threatening  and  gloomy,  its  gray  boulders  shoul 
dering  aside  the  grass,  and  coming  offensively  to  view  in 
the  bright  light;  the  water  of  the  creek  babbled  sleepily 
over  the  stones  all  about  the  house.  Miss  Latimer  turned 
with  a  ready  smile  to  meet  Laird,  and  then  went  on  with 
her  work;  he  put  his  eye-glass  over  his  nose  to  regard  her. 
Women  just  then  wore  large  hoops  and  stiff  stuffs  ruffled 
and  fluted  and  buttoned  at  every  inch.  Isabel's  lavender- 
coloured  gown  was  soft  and  heavy,  clung  closely,  and 
moved  with  every  motion  of  her  body.  It  was  the  fash 
ion,  too,  to  heap  the  head  with  false  curls  and  pomatum 
and  jute,  height  on  height,  while  Bell's  own  soft  hair 
waved  loosely  up  to  a  knot  above  her  high,  narrow  crown. 
Her  truthful  appearance,  her  simple,  direct  manner,  was 
the  charm  that  had  conquered  Laird.  He  began  to  run 
over  in  his  mind  the  lovely  girls  with  their  trained  man 
ners  and  artistic  dress,  whom  he  was  used  to  see,  against 
the  background  of  those  brilliant  city  rooms.  This  was 
like  a  strain  of  one  of  Beethoven's  symphonies — they  were 
the  Opera  Bouffe. 

He  drew  a  hickory-woven  chair  up,  and,  lying  back  in 
it,  looked  at  her  at  his  leisure.     Bell  dotted  and  rubbed 


86  JOHN   AN  DROSS. 

on  composedly.  Isabel  and  her  charms  were,  as  usual,  so 
far  from  her  own  thoughts  that  a  man's  gaze  upon  her 
produced  no  more  blushes  or  shrinking  than  if  he  had 
betaken  himself  to  staring  at  the  mantel-shelf.  Men 
never  show  fantastic  homage  to  such  women,  and  Laird 
did  not. 

"Up  in  town,"  he  said  abruptly,  "what  with  the 
hurly-burly  and  the  trading,  it  is  hard  to  imagine  the 
mountain  wrapped  in  his  solemn  gown,  like  a  monk  yon 
der,  and  you  here,  cool  and  quiet.  I  wish  I  could  take  a 
picture  of  you  both  with  me.  I've  a  picture  of  a  winter 
landscape  that  I  often  like  to  look  at  in  summer;  very 
nicely  done,  indeed.  It's  by  Richards." 

She  adjusted  her  tools. 

"I  wish  old  Nittany  could  have  his  likeness  taken," 
glancing  up  the  height  with  kindling  eyes. 

"And  for  yourself .     Ah,  Miss  Latimer,"  smiling, 

"it  is  not  your  pictured  presentment  I  wish  to  take  with 
me — it  is  the  real  woman.  You  know  that." 

"You  think  so  when  you  see  me  with  old  Nittany  for 
a  background;  but  in  town  you  would  find  me  as  out  of 
place  as  one  of  those  boulders  stripped  of  its  grass  and 
moss." 

There  was  a  short  pause. 

"You  have  not  reconsidered  the  subject  of  which  I 
spoke  to  you  last  winter,  then?"  lowering  his  voice  and 
leaning  forward,  his  arms  resting  on  his  knees.  "You 
have  never  thought  of  giving  me  a  different  answer?" 

Bell  looked  at  him. 

"Never.  I  supposed  you  had  forgotten  that  matter 
long  ago,  Mr.  Laird." 

Laird  could  not  tell  her  that  he  had  not  thought  of  her 
for  six  months;  he  heaved  a  profound  sigh  and  shook  his 
head  sadly,  sinking  back  in  his  chair.  She  might  at  least 
show  some  little  sign  of  interest  in  it;  a  downcast  eye,  a 
blush.  Her  whole  mind  was  given,  instead,  to  trailing 


JOH;N~  ANDROSS.  87 

tlie  partridge-berry  vine  properly  over  the  moss  which  she 
was  copying.  When  Houston  Laird  talked  of  marriage, 
Bell  saw  no  more  cause  for  blushes  than  if  he  had  con 
sulted  her  on  the  colour  of  his  coat  or  any  other  business. 

"I  wish,"  he  resumed  presently,  in  a  low  voice  which 
over  most  women  would  not  have  lacked  power,  "I  wish 
I  could  make  you  understand  how  you  represent  some 
thing  which  I  have  not  in  my  life,  but  should  like  to 
have.  It  is  your  great  simplicity.  You  are  so  downright, 
do  you  see?  I  like  the  very  sweep  of  your  garments — 
straight  and  full.  Yes,  I  like  that  in  you  very  much," 
eyeing  her  from  head  to  foot.  "  I  wish  you  would  marry 
me,  Isabel.  It  would  be — well,  wholesome  for  me.  I 
could  get  back  to  a  simpler  way  of  life.  I  prefer  simplic 
ity,  a  classical  severity  in  dress  and  music,  even  in  relig 
ious  rites.  Now  you  did  not  think  that  of  me,  eh?  Yous 
never  would  have  thought  of  me  as  living  or  dying  in  the 
high  Roman  fashion,  Fm  certain?" 

6 ( No,"  she  laughed.  ' '  Cato's  was  not  the  role  I  should 
have  chosen  for  you.  To  tell  you  the  truth,  I  always 
think  of  you  as  the  modern  Aladdin,  building  palaces  of 
jewels  by  rubbing  on  miraculous  nothings  called  stocks, 
as  unreal  as  old  lamps." 

He  shot  a  keen  glance  of  suspicion  at  her;  but  Isabel 
never  was  guilty  of  a  sarcasm  in  her  life.  She  worked  on 
tranquilly. 

"Why  not  let  Aladdin  build  for  you,  then,  or  your 
father?  Put  the  idea  of  marriage  aside  for  the  present, 
and  let  me  be  your  friend.  Miss  Latimer,  I  do  under 
stand  the  old  lamp,  Speculation;  with  a  touch  or  two  on 
it,  Colonel  Latimer  shall  be  as  rich  a  man  as  he  was 
before  the  war." 

Bell  was  rubbing  out  a  false  stroke.  She  finished  before 
she  answered. 

"  He  was  no  happier  man  then  than  now.  He  slept  on 
the  same  iron  bedstead,  wore  as  coarse  clothes,  ate  a  baked 


88  JOHN    ANDROSS. 

potato  for  his  dinner.  If  lie  had  one  dollar  or  a  million, 
it  would  go  alike  into  lumber  and  ore." 

"And  come  out — slag?" 

"I'm  afraid  so,"  choking  down  a  sigh. 

He  watched  her  with  a  perplexed  frown  for  awhile. 
"Perhaps,"  suddenly,  "it  is  this  very  wealth  and  luxury 
you  would  dread  as  my  wife?  The  responsibility  of  the 
children?  They  should  not  be  in  your  way.  John  is  at 
Annapolis,  and  the  little  girl  has  her  governess,  and  as 
for  the  rest  it  should  be  in  your  hands.  I'd  be  glad  if 
you'd  remodel  the  house,  unfurnish  and  ungild  as  you 
choose.  Now,  there's  the  carriages,"  thoughtfully;  "  that 
gold-mounted  harness:  I  never  liked  it.  It  drives  every 
body  to  talking  of  Laird's  patent  stirrup.  I  began  as  a 
saddler,  you  know,  Miss  Latimer.  That  harness  was  to 
please — the  children's  mother.  But  we  would  drive  in 
an  undertaker's  wagon,  if  you  wished  it!" 

"I  do  not  wish  it.  I  will  never  take  the  place  of  your 
children's  mother  in  any  way."  Isabel's  tones  were  more 
gentle  than  before,  but  Laird  knew  that  he  was  answered. 

"I'm  very  sorry,  Isabel,"  he  said  gravely.  "You  are 
mistaken,  I  think." 

The  pencil  paused  irresolute  in  her  hand  an  instant 
over  the  block.  The  natural  and  decisive  way  of  ending 
the  matter  would  be  to  tell  him  of  her  engagement;  but 
at  the  mere  remembrance  of  Braddock,  hot  blood  crept 
up  into  Isabel's  honest  face  which  had  not  warmed  under 
the  smothered  passion  of  Laird's  glances.  Even  to  her 
father  she  had  never  spoken  of  her  lover.  She  thought 
of  his  love  secretly  even  to  herself  with  a  shyness  akin  to 
pain. 

Laird  saw  the  blush  and  mistook  its  cause.  "  I'll  have 
her,  soul  and  body,  before  the  year's  out,"  he  thought; 
her  coldness  had  roused  a  balked  sense  of  indolent  pas 
sion  within  *him.  But  he  determined  to  let  the  matter 
rest  for  the  present. 


JOHN"  AKDKOSS.  89 


CHAPTER    X. 


A  FTEE  Mr.  Laird's  rejection  he  leaned  back  so 
-"-  quietly  in  his  chair  and  looked  so  persistently  at 
his  intaglio  in  the  sun  that  Miss  Latimer  began  to  feel 
alarmed.  He  was  suffering  more  deeply  than  he  showed, 
no  doubt,  poor  man!  No  matter  how  little  nonsense  a 
woman  has  in  her,  she  always  has  a  sentimental  regard 
for  a  rejected  lover,  and  bewails  secretly  the  irreparable 
wound  which  she  feels  he  must  bear  to  the  grave. 

"Aha! "he  cried  presently.  "Who's  here?  Coming 
with  your  father?" 

Isabel  sighed  with  relief,  but  answered  rather  shortly 
that  "  she  did  not  know  the  man." 

"  Surely  I  know  that  roll  and  the  patriarchal  length  of 
beard,  and  the  hat  set  cock-a-hoop  on  one  side!  It  cer 
tainly  is  Ware!  Prepare  yourself  for  black-mail,  Miss 
Latimer." 

"Who  is  he?" 

"  Eeporter  for  the  'Daily  Critic.  If  there's  a  shameful 
story  to  be  told  of  you,  he'll  write  it  and  charge  you  so 
much  a  line  to  keep  it  out  of  print;  if  there's  a  chance 
for  gross  flattery  of  you,  he'll  print  it  first,  and  send  you 
the  bill  for  it  as  an  advertisement  next  day.  But  what 
brings  him  here?"  anxiously.  "Ware  goes  nowhere 
without  the  chance  of  grist  to  his  mill.  He  follows  a 
crime  as  a  buzzard  the  carrion.  What  can  he  want  here?" 
He  rose  uncertainly,  but  sat  down  again  and  was  idly 
turning  his  seal  in  the  sun,  and  smiling  when  colonel  and 
Ware  entered.  The  colonel  presented  his  guest  with  a 


90  JOHN  ANDROSS. 

good  deal  of  mpressement  to  his  daughter.  He  had  a 
measureless  respect  and  awe  for  the  press,  and  the  least 
worker  on  it.  He  only  read  the  papers  which  defended 
the  opinions  he  had  formed  beforehand,  and  therefore 
found  in  them  nothing  but  pure  truth. 

"  Mr.  Ware  represents  the  New  York  Critic,  Bell," 
with  an  effort  to  speak  coolly.  "  They  have  heard  of  my 
experiments  in  New  York,  it  appears.  The  public  want 
information  on  the  subject,  and  Mr.  Ware  is  going  to 
furnish  it  to  them." 

Miss  Latimer's  face  was  in  a  glow  at  the  words.  She 
stood  up.  "My  father  is  doing  a  great  work,  sir,"  she 
said,  "for  humanity.  /  don't  care  so  very  much  about 
humanity,  but  I  shall  be  very  glad  if  he  is  to  become 
famous."  She  was  always  a  woman  of  such  few  words, 
that  now  being  moved  to  speech,  there  was  a  certain  slow, 
stately  force  in  what  she  said  that  for  the  moment  struck 
Ware  dumb.  "  I  never  met  a  woman  so  lovable  or  so 
infernally  .stupid,"  he  confessed  to  Laird  afterward.  "I 
went  on  my  knees  to  her  at  first  sight." 

It  was  all  because  she  thought  the  coarse,  blatant  fellow 
held  the  trump  of  Fame  ready  to  sound  for  her  father: 
she  always  had  known  the  world  sometime  would  recog 
nize  with  her  the  colonel  and  Braddock  as  demi-gods  in 
it;  it  was  no  wonder  therefore  that  Ware  was  impressed 
with  his  welcome;  Isabel  of  Spain  could  have  given  no 
more  royal  one  to  the  discoverer  who  had  opened  to  her 
the  treasures  of  a  marvellous  unknown  world.  Ware,  who 
had  been  quizzing  the  colonel  unmercifully  outside,  turned 
to  Mr.  Laird,  flushed  and  stammering,  bowing  humbly. 

"I  am  glad  to  have  the  honour  of  meeting  you,  sir;  I 
hastened  up  from  Gray  Eagle  as  soon  as  I  heard  there  was 
a  chance  of  meeting  Mr.  Laird  here.  I — I  am  really 
going  to  illustrate  Colonel  Latimer's  process,"  with  an 
uneasy  side  glance  at  the  old  man's  radiant  face,  "for  the 
Critic.  It  will  make  a  most  readable  article — practical, 


JOHK   AKDROSS.  91 

statistical,  embellished  with  fanciful  descriptions  of  scen 
ery — such  as  the  ore  drifts  and  shafts,  and  charcoal 
hearths." 

"I  know  very  little  of  the  cookery  of  such  literary 
messes/'  drily,  turning  indifferently  away.  Indeed,  an 
odd  change  had  taken  place  in  Laird  since  Ware  entered. 
Alone  with  Bell,  he  had  been  an  ordinary  blunt,  out 
spoken  man  on  the  same  level  as  herself.  Now,  from  the 
glossy  curl  in  his  red  whiskers  to  every  puffy  roll  of  his 
stout  body  he  asserted  himself  a  prince  of  millionaires. 
Money  and  the  power  of  it  hinted  itself,  from  the  com 
fortable  crossing  of  his  feet  to  the  cool  gleam  of  his  blue 
eyes.  He  had  put  on  the  armour  before  which  the  aver 
age  American  is  always  worsted.  He  held  Ware  off  at  a 
distance,  as  one  does  a  dangerous  dog  which  may  spring, 
we  know  not  when. 

However,  the  dinner  was  hearty  and  pleasant  enough. 
Diogenes  himself  would  have  warmed  into  a  tolerably 
good  fellow  at  Thomas  Latimer's  table.  The  old  man, 
when  money  was  plenty  with  him  years  ago,  had  delighted 
to  give  splendid  banquets  to  his  friends,  but  none  of  them 
had  ever  paid  him  then  more  deference  and  sincere  hom 
age  than  this  Laird,  whose  soul  was  popularly  believed  to 
be  made  of  money,  or  this  poor  reporter  known  every 
where  as  a  "dead  beat,"  did  now,  although  the  cloth  was 
coarse  cotton  and  the  forks  but  plated.  How  blind  they 
were  too,  to  the  homoeopathic  size  of  the  roast  of  mutton 
which  he  pressed  on  them  so  anxiously;  how  they  passed 
and  repassed  the  bottle  of  execrable  sherry  (the  colonel 
never  had  been  a  judge  of  wine),  and  ate  and  drank  so 
heartily  that  he  whispered,  delighted,  to  Bell  as  they 
went  back  to  the  other  room,  how  that  the  dinner  had 
been  a  thorough  success,  that  those  fellows  thought 
everything  delicious  and  choice — searching  in  his  pockets 
for  the  last  fifty  cents  for  Oth  because  the  right  hand  of 
that  famous  cook  had  not  lost  its  cunning. 


92  JOES'   ANDROSS. 

Bell,  happy  in  the  present  dinner  and  future  fame,  was 
disposed  to  be  less  silent  than  was  her  habit.  Her  father 
and  Ware  sat  out  on  the  dilapidated  old  porch  to  smoke. 

"This  Mr.  Ware  appears  to  be  a  most  discriminating 
person,"  she  said  sententiously.  "You  were  certainly 
mistaken  in  all  you  said  about  black-mail.  It  must  have 
been  some  other  Ware. " 

Mr.  Laird  was  watching  him  with  half -shut  eyes,  as  he 
had  done  all  evening.  "What  could  have  brought  him 
here?"  he  said. 

Ware  leaned  in  the  window  just  then,  his  big  body 
crushing  the  honeysuckles.  "I  found  your  confidential 
clerk,  An  dross,  at  Gray  Eagle,  Mr.  Laird." 

Laird's  face  suddenly  cleared.  "  Ah-h!  Now  we  have 
it!"  he  muttered.  "Yes,  I  understand  he  is  in  business 
here,"  carelessly^, 

Ware  drew  leisurely  long  whiffs  from  his  cigar  into  his 
mouth,  and  then  emitted  it  in  blue  rings;  Laird  leaned 
back  in  his  chair  as  leisurely,  fingering  Bell's  tools,  but 
the  eyes  of  each  man  were  fixed  on  the  other  without 
faltering.  "What  does  he  know?  What  will  it  cost  to 
buy  him?"  Laird's  would  have  said  if  they  had  been 
suffered  to  speak,  but  they  were  dull  and  unmeaning; 
Ware's  were  eager  to  articulation.  He  had  almost  probed 
a  secret,  and  a  secret  of  Houston  Laird's  or-  his  Ring  was 
equal  to  a  good  "business  connection." 

"  It  was  young  Kenny  who  discovered  him,"  he  said  at 
last.  "He  met  him  accidentally  while  trouting  up  in 
these  hill  streams." 

Laird  nodded  civilly.  The  matter  apparently  did  not 
interest  him  so  much  as  the  sharpening  of  Miss  Latimer's 
pencils.  "Another,  Miss  Isabel,"  pausing,  penknife  in 
hand. 

But  Ware  was  not  so  easily  bluffed.  "  Kenny,"  knock 
ing  the  ashes  from  his  cigar  on  the  sill,  "came  back  to 
town  flush  with  greenbacks.  He's  usually  as  impecunious 


JOHiJ   AKDEOSS.  93 

as  the  rest  of  us.  He  said  he  had  found  the  Mttany 
Eange  a  lucky  ground  for  speculation.  He  put  five  thou 
sand  in  Erie  the  day  after  he  got  back." 

"Ridiculous!"  growled  the  colonel  from  outside. 
"What  chance  for  speculation  is  there  among  these  trees 
and  boulders?  Must  have  been  trading  in  Lock  Haven." 

Mr.  Laird  thought  it  time  now  to  face  the  reporter 
deliberately.  The  fellow  held  a  checkline  and  knew  that 
he  held  it.  But  what  did  it  amount  to  ?  He  had  discov 
ered  that  Andross  was  a  confidential  agent  of  the  Ring, 
and  was  trying  to  shake  loose  from  their  hold.  But  the 
man  knew  that  every  such  organization  had  such  agents, 
and  that  once  used,  for  them  to  be  turned  loose  to  chatter 
and  blab  was — not  expedient.  That  was  all.  Andross 
was  not  the  man  to  chatter  secrets  to  Ware,  however  he 
might  loathe  and  hate  the  Ring.  Laird  saw  that  Miss 
Latimer  also  had  turned  her  steady  attentive  eyes  on 
Ware.  But  she  was  too  slow  a  woman  to  suspect  any 
thing. 

"Ware,"  he  said  gravely. 

"Yes?"  The  big  handsome  head  was  thrust  eagerly 
forward. 

"  I  am  afraid  your  cigar  ashes  will  be  blown  over  Miss 
Latimer's  moss;  be  more  careful,  pray.  That  is  all." 

The  protruding  brown  eyes  stared  defiantly  at  Laird  a 
moment,  then  Ware  laughed.  "  He  forgets,"  he  thought, 
"that  when  a  man  lives  by  his  wits,  the  wits  are  apt  to 
be  a  tolerably  well  managed  capital.  But,"  he  said  aloud, 
"don't  you  think  it  remarkable  that  Kenny  in  two  days 
should  have  turned  such  a  pretty  penny  among  these 
woods  and  boulders,  as  the  colonel  says?" 

"I  suppose,"  said  Laird,  "that  seeing  Kenny's  big 
yield  of  grapes  of  Eshcol,  you  hurried  up  to  pluck  a 
bunch  from  the  same  vine." 

"Precisely."  He  was  suffered  to  puff  away  in  silence 
so  long  that  when  he  spoke  again  he  went  directly  to  the 


9G  JOHST  ANDROSS. 

|s 

She  could  smell  the  fresh  mould  and  grass  on  the  damp 
air.  There  was  not  an  inch  of  it  which  was  not  dear  to 
the  quiet,  affectionate  girl,  simply  because  her  father's 
feet  had  so  long  trod  in  it;  the  stars  hung  burning  be 
tween  the  mountain  shadows  overhead — so  near  that  it 
seemed  to  her  that  happy  other  life  into  which  she  and 
her  father  were  going  some  day,  was  close  at  hand.  But 
the  dark  figures  of  Ware  and  Laird  down  by  the  creek 
were  alien;  they  did  not  belong  here.  This  little  moun 
tain  gap,  her  father,  Braddock — this  was  her  share  of  the 
world.  What  had  these  men,  with  their  schemes  of  poli 
tics  and  plunder,  to  do  with  it?  Isabel,  as  anybody  might 
know  from  her  firm  flesh,  square  jaws,  and  large,  sweet- 
tempered  ^inouth,  was  subject  to  -none  of  the  poignant 
little  loves  and  hates  of  Anna  Maddox,  but  a  chance 
word  dropped  to-night  had  caused  her  to  put  both  men 
into  her  scales  of  judgment;  and,  her  mind  once  made 
up,  it  was  not  likely  that  any  reason  would  change  it. 

She  looked  steadily  at  the  two  figures,  measuring  her 
strength  against  them.  They  should  go  out  of  this  place 
and  away  from  her  father. 

Just  then  their  voices,  raised  so  as  to  be  heard  over  the 
rippling  of  the  water,  reached  her. 

"You  have  a  hold  on  him,  then?"  said  Ware. 
"Yes.     But  I  doubt  its  efficiency,  if  there  be  a  woman 
in  the  case.     If  he  have  a  fair  prospect  here,  with  a  chance 
to  marry,  the  line  I  have  held  him  by  so  long  will  not  be 
strong  enough  to  bring  him  back." 

"  But  you  forget  the  money  he  paid  to  Kenny?"  eagerly. 
"  He  did  pay  it — in  cash.  It  is  impossible  that  he  could 
have  earned  that  amount  since  he  came  here.  There's  a 
thumbscrew  for  you  ready  to  use.  And  I'm  here  to  back 
you.  The  press,  sir!  Next  to  a  jail-cell  there's  nothing 
a  guilty  man  dreads  like  the  daily  newspaper.  We  report 
ers  are  the  unpaid  police  of  the  country.  You  had  better 
let  me  bring  Andross  over  to-night.  What  d'ye  say?" 


JOHN   ANDEOSS.  97 

"I  shall  see  him  in  the  morning,"  coolly. 

The  money  king  however  apparently  appreciated  the 
power  of  the  unpaid  police,  and  had  chosen  in  the  last 
five  minutes  to  use  a  much  more  civil  tone  to  Ware,  even 
while  he  snubhed  him.  The  fellow  had  his  influence,  as 
he  reflected,  and  it  might  as  well  he  secured  for  the  com 
pany  as  not.  Nothing  could  be  more  annoying  to  a  man 
or  a  corporation  than  the  incessant  barking  of  these 
smaller  dogs  of  the  press. 

"Take  a  cigar,"  said  Ware  confidentially,  pulling  out 
a  curious  Turkish  case.  "  They  were  brought  to  me  by 
a  friend  straight  from " 

"Thanks,  no,"  drawing  back  coldly. 

' '  Now  this  old  fellow,  the  colonel  ?  "  anxiously.  ' '  What 
a  queer  party  he  is,  anyhow,  eh?  With  his  mixture  of 
intelligence  and  stupidity,  and  his  big  bones  and  flying 
hair,  and  then,  going  hungry  to  make  us  eat  his  bit  of 
roast  mutton — a  very  unusual  sort  of  person,  it  seems  to 
me.  What  an  excellent  figure-head  he  would  make,  Mr. 
Laird." 

"I  don't  understand  you." 

"In  your  business.  For  the  company.  Agent,  say. 
The  kind  of  man  in  whom  everybody  puts  confidence; 
why,  his  word  would  go  as  far  as  the  sight  of  your  securi 
ties.  Upon  my  word,  sir,  he  somehow  put  me  so  in  mind 
'of  my  childhood  and  of  some  that  are  dead,  sitting  at  the 
table  yonder,  that  I  could  hardly  command  my  voice.  It 
would  be  a  capital  thing  for  the  company  to  bring  him 
into  their  employ,  and  a  capital  thing  for  the  old  man, 
too." 

"Yes,  very  probably,"  but  in  a  tone  which  dismissed 
the  subject. 

"A  hold  upon  An  dross?  A  rod  to  drive  him  to  their 
work  when  he  chooses  to  live  and  marry  here?"  Women 
reason  by  hints,  not  syllogisms.  Bell  saw  as  though  she 
had  heard  all  the  facts.  The  life-long  struggle  for  free- 


98  JOHis    ANDKOSS. 

dom  which  drove  Andross  first  to  coaling,  half  naked,  up 
in  the  gorges,  and  then  to  theft,  perhaps,  and  to  hiding 
half  mad  like  a  beast  among  the  rocks.  The  secret  of  his 
struggle  might  be  found  quite  as  much,  perhaps,  in  his 
own  weak  jaw  and  uncertain  womanish  eyes  as  in  any 
power  of  Laird's,  but  Bell  made  no  allowance  for  such 
side  issues  or  reasons. 

Did  money  then  rule?  Did  this  man  Laird,  dull  and 
uncultured,  and  a  liar  at  heart,  think  because  of  his 
foundation  of  solid  dollars  that  her  father  and  Andross 
were  to  go  under  his  yoke  and  become  part  of  his  machin 
ery?  To  her  heated  brain  it  was  as  though  she  had  heard 
the  very  words  of  the  devil  as  he  stood  plotting  in  the 
garden;  but  beyond  the  circling  mountain  range,  every 
thing  bent  to  Laird's  money.  She  knew  well  the  world 
to  which  he  belonged — fashion,  false  show,  plunder — 
gambling  in  stock  by  the  pennies  or  by  the  millions.  Were 
her  father  and  Andross  to  go  back  and  take  part  of  that? 

"Does  he  think  there  is  nothing  in  this  world  but 
greed  and  money?  He  forgets  who  will  take  part  against 
him."  The  words  came  out  slowly  on  her  tongue.  It 
seemed  to  her  as  though  He,  the  great  elder  Brother,  stood 
on  the  bank  of  the  creek,  brawling  yonder  down  the  gorge, 
as  ready  to  help  poor  Andross,  as  he  had  been  to  stretch 
out  his  hand,  eighteen  hundred  years  ago,  to  any  poor 
Jewish  cripple  or  profligate. 

Bell's  religion,  being  a  woman  without  fancy  or  senti 
mentality,  was  as  real  and  hourly  a  matter  of  thought  to 
her  as  the  work  which  her  hands  fingered.  She  stood  in 
the  unlighted  room  now  until  the  darkness  closed  in  over 
the  gorge  and  the  house.  Laird  and  Ware  had  disap 
peared.  She  did  not  know  by  what  strategy  or  tricks 
they  would  attack  her  father  or  Andross.  The  danger 
was  actual  and  imminent  to  her.  But  what  was  danger, 
or  Laird,  or  that  awful  invisible  power  of  evil  lurking 
everywhere?  One  benignant  presence,  of  all  men  most  a 


JOHK    AKDROSS.  99 

man,  was  here,  close  to  them  all,  to  bring,  as  he  had  done 
for  ages,  right  out  of  wrong.  Bell  never  had  been  sure 
whether  she  believed  in  Apostolic  Succession  or  Paedo- 
baptism  or  Predestination  or  not.  She  used  to  toil  and 
tug  with  her  illogical  brain  through  doctrinal  books  every 
Sunday  afternoon  in  order  to  make  out  a  proper  creed  for 
herself,  and  they  only  wreaked  upon  her  utter  confusion 
of  spirit.  But  she  knew  Him  and  trusted  Him;  and  she 
was  so  sure  now  that  He  would  make  it  all  right  that  she 
went  about  the  room,  closing  the  curtains,  and  lighting 
the  lamp,  singing  at  first  a  hymn,  but  very  soon  a  song 
with  a  merry  ringing  burden,  of  which  she  and  her  father 
were  both  fond.  Indeed,  she  heard  presently  his  cracked 
voice  as  he  came  in  from  the  barn  joining  in  the  chorus, 
and  went  out  to  hold  the  light  for  him. 

' '  That's  right,  my  dear.  Our  friends  have  strolled 
along  the  creek;  they'll  be  in  presently.  We  must  be  up 
early  to-morrow  morning;  Mr.  Laird  is  going  over  to  the 
Works." 

"  Mr.  Laird's  business  here  is  with  Jack?" 

"  Yes,  I  suppose  it  is,"  in  the  guarded  tone  with  which 
the  colonel  always  warned  women  off  the  sacred  precincts 
of  business.  ' '  I  am  glad  Laird  knows  Andross.  He  can 
give  him  a  lift  in  the  world  as  few  men  are  able  to  do." 

"You  think  Mr.  Laird  a  good  man  then,  father?  hon 
est,  fair  dealing?" 

"Bless  my  soul!  Houston  Laird!  Why,  he  is  the 
very  centre  of  commercial  activity  in  this  state,  and  head 
of  religious  clubs  and — what  are  you  thinking  of?" 

"  I  had  an  impression " 

"  Oh,  an  impression?  No,  I  never  knew  a  woman  who 
would  not  throw  a  man's  character  to  the  winds,  and  all 
the  testimony  of  the  world  in  his  favour  to  boot,  if  she 
had  '  an  impression '  against  him.  You  are  all  alike,  Bell ! " 

Isabel  smiled  and  held  fast  to  her  opinion.  Her  father, 
she  saw,  would  be  no  ally  on  her  side. 


100  JOHK   AXDROSS. 


CHAPTEK    XI. 

DR.  BRADDOCK  drove  Tom  back  at  a  spanking  pace. 
If  he  talked  at  all,  it  was  of  the  buckwheat  crop 
or  Buck's  heifers  or  pig  iron.  The  little  creature  beside 
him  was  no  less  Una  and  Godiva  than  the  night  before; 
but  somehow  this  sublimated  homage  would  not  find 
words  in  common  daylight,  and  it  occurred  to  him  to 
wonder  what  Isabel  would  think  of  it  with  an  irritated 
feeling  of  being  in  a  jail  of  which  Miss  Latimer  kept  the 
key. 

Anna  ran  up  to  her  room  after  he  had  left  her  (stop 
ping  to  kiss  and  hug  her  papa  into  good  humour  on  the 
way) ;  then  she  prepared  to  receive  Andross  in  a  white 
frilled  wrapper,  laughing  to  think  how  silly  Braddock's 
scheme  was  to  keep  them  apart.  She  knew  Jack  would 
follow  her  in  half  an  hour.  Then  she  ran  down  to  coax 
Miss  Shanks  (the  "help")  into  making  her  favorite  pud 
ding  for  dinner.  She  was  so  pretty,  and  so  overflowing 
with  love  and  wilful  baby  ways,  that  that  young  lady  laid 
aside  a  sacque  she  was  braiding  for  camp-meeting  and 
humoured  her.  Anna  having  only  nibbled  a  little  break 
fast,  then  ate  a  slice  of  pound-cake  and  some  pickles,  and 
filled  her  pockets  with  nuts,  and  went  back  to  her  cham 
ber  to  write  in  her  diary.  Then  she  cried  over  Andross's 
hard  fate  (she  was  really  very  fond  of  Andross  and  her 
father  and  Miss  Shanks  and  anything  else  that  came  in 
her  way),  and  slept  sweetly  until  dinner-time.  After 
dinner  she  dressed  again,  and  it  was  while  she  was  eating 
an  orange  or  two  in  the  seclusion  of  her  own  chamber, 


JOHH   A^DKOSS.  101 

that  she  finally  resolved  to  marry  An  dross.  Her  new 
poodle,  Puck,  was  there,  and  she  had  nursed  and  kissed 
and  made  him  beg  for  cake,  before  she  was  led  to  reflect 
that  one  could  manage  men  quite  as  easily  as  poodles.  It 
was  so  absurd  and  priggish  in  Dr.  Braddock  to  interfere, 
when  Andross  really  loved  her!  It  was  so  absurd  in  men, 
at  any  rate,  to  wrap  themselves  up  in  the  dignity  of  their 
political  schemes  and  business  plans,  "when  I  can  do 
with  any  of  them  what  I  please-^just  what  I  please!" 
nodding  her  little  head.  This  poor  Jack  now?  What  a 
big,  stout  fellow  he  was !  and  how  much  more  he  knew  of 
the  world  than  Dr.  Braddock;  and  yet — Anna  stroked 
and  kneaded  the  fluffy  little  ball  on  her  lap  with  her 
white  hands,  thinking  that  Jack  was  in  their  grasp  more 
absolutely  than  this  little  beast.  "Whether  he  goes  up 
or  down  in  this  world  or  the  next  depends  pretty  much 
on  me/'  murmured  the  rosebud  lips  aloud.  "  He'll  be  a 
Christian  or  a  sinner,  as  I  choose  to  use  him,  I'm  sure. 
It's  a  great  responsibility ! "  and  she  sighed  and  put  Puck 
down  and  went  for  some  more  pound-cake. 

Andross,  meantime,  at  the  Works  had  appeased  the 
curiosity  of  the  men  as  he  best  could,  and  worked  steadily 
at  his  desk  all  day.  The  fingers  that  held  the  pen  were 
the  fingers  of  a  thief,  and  Laird  was  at  his  back.  It 
would  be  better  he  should  never  look  in  Anna's  face 
again;  and  in  this  mind  he  remained  until  evening;  then 
he  shut  his  desk,  flung  on  his  hat,  and  with  Braddock 
looking  him  sternly  in  the  face,  nodded  to  him,  and  going 
out  of  the  door  went  directly  up  the  path  to  Judge  Mad- 
dox's.  v 

Long  afterwards  it  seemed  to  him  that  if  Braddock  had 
stretched  out  a  kind  hand  to  him  at  that  minute,  spoken 
a  single  word  to  him  as  a  friend  and  a  Christian,  it  would 
have  made  his  life  different  to  the  end.  But  Braddock 
could  give  all  his  savings  and  make  no  sign;  yet  he  could 
not  greet  Andross  heartily,  or  keep  from  snappish  answers 


102  JOHIS'   A^DROSS. 

or  suspicious  looks.     It  is  yery  likely,  however,  that  noth 
ing  he  could  have  done  would  really  have  had  any  effect. 
Jack  had  every  reason  to  be  a  miserable,  despairing 
man  that  evening;  but  in  fact  he  was  reasonably  happy. 
Except  in  the  cleared  acre  or  two  about  the  Works,  the 
great  Nittany  forest  crept  down  from  the  mountains  and 
choked  all  the  valleys  to  the  creek's  edge.     Jack's  way 
lay  through  it.     He  could  not  help  noticing  how  full  of 
rainbow-glimmering  dust  were  the  wide  beams  of  light 
which  the  low  westering  sun  struck  through  the  aisles  of 
oaks  and  chestnuts,  and  how  the  thick  trunks  stood  out 
in  it,  painted  green  and  yellow  and  crimson  with  lichen. 
His  feet  sank  deep  in  the  leaves,  rotting  for  years;  he 
stooped  to  untwist  a  creeping  vine  of  morning  glory  from 
about  his  legs,  its  pink  blossoms  yet  open  in  the  shade. 
He  halted  to  look  down  into  the  strange,  green  funnel- 
shaped  hollows  which  the  people  called  witch's  holes;   at 
the  swarming  ant-hills  higher  than  his  shoulder;  at  a 
fungus  standing  like  a  scarlet  star  on  a  dung-heap;  at  the 
brilliant  blue  butterflies  which  he  had  never  seen  else 
where,  that  darted  across  the  tan-coloured    mountain 
stream;  at  a  saffron  night-moth  with  a  white  cross  on  its 
back,  that,  shaken  from  its  bough,  hung  in  the  air  dazed 
with  the  late  daylight.     The  air  was  damp,  heavy  with 
wood-scents.     He  could  no  more  help  forgetting  himself 
to  notice  these  things,  than  the  ant  could  help  its  poison 
ous  bite,  or  the  moth  its  blinded  eyes.     He  lay  down  for 
awhile  on  the  thick  layers  of  leaves,  and  actually  forgot 
all  about  money  or  the  avenger  coming,  or  Anna,  in  feel 
ing  that  his  clothes  were  warm  and  comfortable,  and  his 
bed  soft,  and  the  air  deliciously  light  to  his  lungs.    There 
was  too,  under  all,  a  vague  assurance  that  the  Power  who 
had  made  the  world  such  a  delight  and  comfort,  must 
know  that  he,  Jack,  was  not  a  bad  sort  of  a  fellow  after 

all,  and  would  have  done  right  if — if 

At  any  rate  it  was  not  hard  to  do  right  now.     He 


JOHK  AKDROSS.  103 

sprung  up  and  walked  buoyantly  along,  his  hat  in  his 
hands,  that  were  clasped  behind  him.  His  womanish, 
brilliant  eyes  glowed  with  the  great  thought  that  had 
come  to  him  in  some  way  out  of  the  slanting  beams  and 
the  floating  moth  and  wood-growths.  It  was  the  easiest 
thing  to  be  right!  He  would  own  the  theft,  and  if  he 
were  allowed  to  do  it,  go  away  to  some  obscure  part  of 
the  country,  where  Laird  and  his  father  were  unknown, 
and  work  until  he  had  paid  the  money.  When  he  came 
back  with  clean  hands  Anna  would  marry  him.  Her 
love  was  like  that  of  some  redeeming  saint — it  would  be 

most  tender  to  the  sinner.     If  she  did  not he  stopped 

at  that  suddenly.  No  matter;  he  could  live  alone  to  the 
end.  "I  will  lift  up  my  hands  unto  Thee,  0  Lord!"  he 
repeated,  remembering  some  of  his  mother's  hymns  or 
psalms.  He  hurried  on;  his  pulse  throbbed;  the  tears 
came  to  his  eyes.  He  reached  the  judge's  house,  opened 
the  gate  and,  crossing  the  garden  paths,  came  to  the  win 
dow  where  Anna,  after  writing  in  her  diary  that  his  doom 
was  hers,  and  giving  her  hair  a  crowning  touch  of  halo- 
like  fluffiness,  sat  and  waited  for  him. 

He  tapped  at  the  pane.  "Won't  you  come  out?"  hum 
bly.  "  There  is  a  thunder-storm  coming  up  the  valley, 
and  the  air  really  takes  hold  of  you  like  live,  damp 
fingers." 

"  He  looks  excited  as  though  he  had  been  drinking," 
thought  Anna,  but  she  only  raised  her  white-lidded  eyes 
to  his  and  put  out  her  hand. 

Andross  did  not  touch  it.  "  Come  out.  I  feel  as  if  I 
could  not  breathe  in-doors  to-night.  See,  old  Nittany  has 
wrapped  himself  in  mist  already;  it  is  lightening  beyond 
the  Muncey  mountains."  He  leaned  his  elbow  on  the 
window-sill,  his  eyes  wandering  up  and  down  the  valley, 
while  Anna  pouted  that  they  could  leave  her  face.  ' '  Look 
at  that  bird  with  the  flash  of  red  on  its  wing;  how  low 
and  straight  its  flight  is  to  its  nest.  I  knew  the  storm 


104  JOHN   AXDROSS. 

•was  coming  as  soon  as  any  swallow  of  them  all,"  with  a 
boyish  exultation.  "  See  how  the  hollyhocks  burn  red  as 
the  sun  goes  down!  And  this  clematis  about  the  window; 
its  mass  of  feathery  green  makes  the  right  framing  for 
your  pale-tinted  face." 

Anna's  rocking-chair  was  comfortable,  and  she  had  her 
usual  fear  when  lazy  of  taking  cold.  But  she  was  that 
ideal  of  all  men,  a  yielding  woman;  if  her  lover  had  felt 
his  mission  to  be  a  journey  into  Africa  or  to  the  Xorth  Pole 
she  would  have  gone  with  him  with  effusion,  though  if 
he  had  left  her  behind  to  pack  the  trunks,  she  might 
have  married  another  man  before  the  ship  sailed. 

She  shivered  but  wrapped  her  lace  shawl  about  her 
head  and  came  out.  Andross  was  waiting.  He  looked  at 
her  furtively  from  head  to  foot,  and  then  turned  away. 

"  Come  to  the  seat  under  the  chestnut.  You  can  com 
mand  the  valley  there.  It  won't  rain  for  an  hour,"  going 
before  her  hastily. 

"Won't  you  take  cold?"  touching  his  arm  softly;  once, 
no  more.  Jack  laughed  from  sheer  delight.  There  was 
something  immeasurably  exhilarating  and  delicious  to  the 
big,  stout  fellow  in  the  idea  of  being  taken  care  of  by  this 
feeble  mite  of  a  creature.  Samson  found  Delilah,  with 
out  doubt,  a  little,  gentle  woman;  who  petted  and  cod 
dled  his  strength  out  of  him.  "  I  forgot,"  chirped  she, 
like  a  sweet-voiced  bird,  "that  you  were  used  lately  to 
the  night  air.  Oh!  where  did  you  go,  Jack?"  clasping 
both  hands  about  his  arm  and  looking  straight  up  into 
his  eyes,  "  Oh!  how  could  you  vex  and  frighten  me  so?" 

"  Did  I  vex  you?  God  knows — "  Jack  stopped,  pulled 
her  hands  from  his  arms  roughly,  and  walked  away. 

The  chestnut  stood  over  a  spring,  that  bubbled  out 
with  a  sleepy  whisper  over  the  mossy  rocks. 

"  It's  easy  to  be  right,"  Andross  said  to  himself,  again 
and  again. "  But  the  sleepy,  lapping  whisper  seemed  to 
drown  the  words.  If  it  had  been  Bell  who  sat  there  he 


JOHX    AXDROSS.  105 

could  have  grappled  with  his  trouble,  told  it  to  her  in 
plain  words  as  to  a  man,  and  she  would  have  helped  him. 
But  Anna  was  only  a  delicate  child;  he  must  never  forget 
that. 

"Yes,  you  did.  You  always  do  vex  me,"  she  moaned. 
She  had  seated  herself  on  a  knob  of  the  trunk;  thick  trees 
shut  them  in,  except  where,  in  front,  the  valley  opened  in 
a  gash  through  the  hills,  to  the  gorge  in  the  west,  behind 
which  the  sun  set.  Clouds  walled  this  far-off  gorge;  you 
could  see  that  it  was  already  raining  there ;  but  the  light 
struck  up  behind  the  clouds,  and  filled  the  upper  sky 
with  fervid  warmth  and  colour.  The  mountain  spring 
sparkled  in  it,  the  leaves,  with  that  still  shiver  of  a  com 
ing  storm,  grew  darker  green  in  it,  but  to  Andross,  the 
woman,  with  her  reddening  cheeks  and  parted  lips,  the 
brown  snaky  blossoms  of  the  chestnut  dropping  down  on 
her  loose  hair  and  uncovered  shoulders,  was  the  centre 
and  meaning  of  all  the  heat  and  brightness — the  meaning 
of  life. 

"  You  did  vex  me,"  her  eyes  following  him,  compelling 
his  to  turn.  "I  knew  you  fled  from  here  because  you 
were  in  trouble  or  shame.  Yes,  111  speak  the  truth.  / 
knew  vou  had  committed  a  crime!" 

"What  do  you  mean  ?  "  Jack  said,  drawing  farther  away. 

She  sat  quite  still,  her  hands  held  out  towards  him. 
"  Did  I  ever  ask  what  it  was?  Did  / care?  You  are  my 
friend.  I  would  have  shared  your  trouble.  I  would  have 
gone  with  you."  Still  Andross  did  not  take  the  begging 
hands.  She  clasped  them  over  her  burning  face.  "I 
did  what  I  could.  I  followed  you.  I  forced  Doctor 
Braddock  to  take  me  with  him  to  search  for  you." 

Then  a  hot  drop  of  water  or  two  forced  its  way  between 
the  little  fingers,  and  rolled  over  the  back  of  her  hand. 
At  that  Jack  gave  a  groan.  No  thought  now  as  to 
whether  it  was  easy  to  do  right  or  not.  He  dragged  the 
little  fingers  from  the  flushed,  lovely  face  and  looked  at 


106  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

it.  Her  eyes  were  wet,  but  laughing.  Was  this  whole 
dreadful  business  only  a  comedy  then? 

"You  can't  deceive  me,"  she  said;  "Spillen  says  you 
were  out  fishing.  Papa  says  the  moon  had  something  to 
do  with  it,  that  it  affects  people  who  are  not  quite  right," 
touching  her  forehead,  ' '  and  that  no  man  can  be  quite 
right  and  care  so  much  for  ragged  books  and  cracked  pot 
tery.  It  was  the  change  of  the  moon  did  it,  he  says." 

Jack  laughed. 

"But  I  knew  it  was  neither  the  moon  nor  fishes. 
What  is  this  dreadful  mystery  that  hangs  over  you?" 
She  peered  closer  into  his  face,  with  the  ready  pout  on 
her  lips,  when  she  saw  thoughts  there  that  lay  deeper 
than  any  love  for  her. 

"There's  no  mystery,"  said  Jack.  "I've  not  been  a 
lucky  man.  I've  never  been  able  to  go  straight  on  a 
beaten  road,  like  Braddook  or  the  colonel.  I've  been 
hampered  by  business  relations,  dragged  this  way  and 
dragged  that.  I've  been  handcuffed,  hobbled.  I  didn't 
mind  it  for  awhile.  But  it  seems  to  me  now  as  if  x  the 
hold  on  me  was  turning  into  iron,  and  was  going  to  drag 
me  down  always; — after  I'm  dead,  even  into  that  place 
they  call  hell,  if  I  can  name  such  a  place  to  you  safe,  com 
fortable  people." 

Even  Anna  could  feel  the  bitterness  under  his  joking 
tone.  Her  responsibility  as  to  his  soul's  safe  conduct 
flashed  upon  her.  Now  was  the  time  to  take  charge  of  it. 

"I  think  you're  very  irreligious,  Mr.  Andross.  You 
ought  not  to  use  such  language  at  all.  And  besides,  it's 
all  nonsense  to  say  any  man  out  of  a  jail  is  hampered  in 
this  free  country.  You  are  free.  You  can  go  into  busi 
ness  and  marry,  and  vote,  or  go  to  housekeeping,  or  be 
sent  to  the  legislature,  or  any  of  those  things.  And  you 
can  go  to  church  regularly  and  so  on,  and  then  there's  no 
danger  of  going  to  that  other  place.  It  is  all  plain  and 
easy,  in  my  opinion." 


AOTROSS.  107 

The  words  from  anybody  else  might  have  seemed  silly 
and  unfeeling  to  Jack.  But  from  Anna — the  way  opened 
before  him  in  them  plain  and  easy,  as  she  said.  The  way 
to  safety,  to  love,  to  heaven. 

"Don't  hold  my  arm  so  tight.  You  hurt  me!"  she 
cried.  "Why  do  you  look  at  me  in  that  way?  You 
know  it's  all  true  what  I  say.  It  doesn't  matter  what 

you  have  done,  even  if  it's  murder "  shivering  with 

excitement.  "God  will  forgive  you.  And ":she 

looked  away,  "if  there  is  any  woman  in  the  world  that 
loves  you,  she  would  forgive  it  too." 

"Do  you  mean " 

In  the  sudden  silence  Anna  looked  up.  She  started 
back  with  a  little  cry,  as  if  she  had  thrust  her  hand  into 
the  fire. 

"  I'm  afraid  of  you."  In  a  moment  she  controlled  her 
self.  "Why  do  you  frighten  me  so?"  patting  her  wet 
eyes  and  burning  cheeks  with  a  perfumed  handkerchief. 

"Oh!"  groaned  Jack,  "for  God's  sake  don't  say  more 
than  you  mean.  It's  life  or  death  with  me  to-day.  I 
misunderstood  you,  may  be.  But  I  thought  you  meant 
that  even  if  I  had  committed  crime,  you  could  forgive 
me,  and — and  love  me,  Anna." 

He  did  not  make  love  as  she  had  planned  it  many  a 
time;  that  was  certain.  He  did  not  tremble  at  her  touch, 
nor  touch  her  at  all,  indeed,  but  walked  off  and  stood  by 
the  spring,  with  his  back  to  her,  grinding  the  bits  of  rot 
ten  wood  under  his  boot-heel,  his  hands  thrust  deep  into 
his  pockets.  But  she  felt  somehow  that  the  body  and 
soul  of  the  man,  both  bigger  than  her  own,  were  under 
going  some  physical  or  mental  torture.  She  remembered 
how  Gertrude  Von  der  Wart  stood  by  her  dying  husband 
on  the  rack  and  put  water  to  his  lips.  She  was  sure  she 
loved  Jack  enough  to  do  that. 

"I  can't  tell  you  what  I  mean  if  you  turn  your  back 
to  me." 


108  JOHN  ANDROSS. 

He  came  back  slowly. 

"  If  I  were  a  man  of  honour,  I  would  never  look  you  in 
the  face  again." 

She  drew  back. 

"Your  secret  has  nothing  to  do  with  another  wife?" 

Jack  laughed. 

( '  No.  There  is  no  woman  in  the  world  who  has  come 
into  my  life  in  any  way  but  you.  You  must  know  that." 

Her  head  dropped  on  her  heaving  bosom. 

"  Then  you — you  do  care  for  me  a  little?" 

"  Care  for  you?"  he  cried,  still  standing  off  and  looking 
at  her  as  banished  Satan  might  at  his  lost  crown. 

After  all,  why  was  it  lost?  This  girl,  this  wife,  was 
his  crown  of  manhood.  He  was  a  man  like  otjier  men; 
why  should  he  let  it  slip  from  him?  If  she  went  now, 
she  would  never  return. 

At  whatever  risk,  then — .  He  put  out  his  hand,  but 
uncertainly,  as  she  saw. 

"Why  can  not  he  be  funny  or  agreeable  when  he  comes 
a^wooing,  as  he  used  to  be?"  she  thought,  impatiently. 
"A  person  don't  want  tragedy  all  day." 

This  young  Lotohinvar  came  wooing  with  a  mortal  sick 
ness  at  his  heart,  apparently.  All  the  gayety  and  electric 
vigo^;  that  had  made  Andross,  Andross,  was  gone. 

He  drew  her  slowly  toward  him. 

"  G6~d  knows  whether  I  care  for  you  or  not.  Did  you 
mean  just  now  that  you  would  be  my  wife?  No  matter 
what  I  have  done — that  you  would  marry  me?" 

"  Oh,  indeed  yes,  Jack,"  she  whispered. 

I  Her  head  sank  on  his  breast,  the  soft  perfumed  hair 
was' blown  against  his  mouth,  her  arms  were  around  his 
neck.  Anna's  frail?  body  always  exposed  every  feeling 
within.  Her  skin  was  pale,  her  eyes  languid,  her  breath 
came  slowly.  Nothing  could  seem  more  weak  or  loving 
or  loyal  than  she,  lying  there.  John  Andross  had  never 
kissed  a  pure  woman's  lips  before.  When  he  touched 


t 


AKDEOSS.  109 

« 

them  the  warmth  and  brightness  of  the  day  struck  home 
to  him.  His  face  glowed,  his  eyes  flashed.  What  was 
Laird  or  stolen  money  or  Rings  ?  He  kissed  her  but  once, 
and  then  placing  her  gently  on  the  rock,  sat  down  before 
her.  He  had  such  a  reverence  for  her — such  tenderness, 
akin  to  pain !  He  held  a  bit  of  her  muslin  dress  in  his 
hand;  if  he  let  her  go  altogether,  it  seemed  as  if  he  should 
drift  away,  he  knew  not  into  what  abyss.  That  old 
dreadful  life  of  a  minute  ago  was  gone  as  far  as  past  ages. 
The  time  when  he  doubted,  was  guilty .  He  remem 
bered  quickly  that  she  had  no  mother  to  guard  her  now, 
that  love  was  coming  to  her.  It  was  quite  in  the  nature 
of  the  man  to  feel,  above  the  hot  passion  surging  in  his 
blood  for  this  woman,  an  unspeakable  respect  and  awe  for 
her,  and  all  women  through  her — such  as  a  mother  feels 
for  her  maiden  child.  He  would  take  good  care  of  her, 
from  even  his  own  love.  Anna  put  her  hand  shyly  again 
into  his. 

"What  do  you  see  yonder,  Jack?  Why  are  you  so 
quiet?  Why,  your  eyes  are  wet!  I  thought  a  man  was 
glad  when  he  was  loved,  and  did  not  cry  like  a  woman." 

Jack  put  the  little  hand  on  his  eyes. 

"I  never  thought  this  would  come  to  me,"  he  said 
quietly.  "It  seems  as  if—  He  stopped.  He  could 

not  say  even  to  her  that  he  felt  as  if  Christ  had  forgiven 
him,  and  laid  His  hand  on  him  through  her.  "  I've  been 
a  worthless  dog,"  forcing  a  laugh.  "I  never  thought, 
since  my  mother  died,  that  God  or  man  took  much 
account  of  Jack  An  dross  until  now." 

It  was  very  disappointing!  She  had  flung  herself  intp 
the  abyss  of  his  despair,  and  he  began  to  talk  about  his 
dead  mother !  She  had  never,  in  opera  or  tragedy,  known 
a  situation  which  was  more  dramatic,  and  Andross  always 
used  to  look  so  delightfully  like  a  brigand;  and  yet  he 
made  nothing  of  it;  he  was  as  quiet  and  respectable  in 
his  wooing  as  Braddock  would  be,  or  that  old  deacon  who 


110  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

said  grace  when  he  kissed  his  wife.  And  she  had  always 
known  she  was  a  frail,  lonely  creature !  She  did  so  need 
to  be  protected  by  an  engrossing,  warm  passion ! 

The  rising  storm  concentrated  the  heat  and  light  about 
them;  the  lapping  of  the  brook  grew  more  drowsy,  the 
shiver  of  the  oaks  audible.  Oaks  and  low  swooping  birds, 
and  the  water,  red  in  the  oblique  light,  grew  distinct,  as 
the  world  seemed  to  Andross  to  stand  off  and  regard  this 
woman  and  himself.  Her  eyes  were  lowered,  her  crimson 
lips  apart,  her  soft  hands  held  one  of  his  between  them. 
He  dared  not  look  at  her. 

"Anna,"  he  said,  rising  and  standing  before  her,  "I'm 
going  to  do  what's  right  in  this  thing.  If  you  are  really 
given  to  me,  I'll  take  you  with  clean  hands,  so  help  me, 
God.  I'll  have  no  deception  about  it.  I'll  go  to  your 
father  now  and  tell  him  my  whole  story,  and  then  ask 
you  for  my  wife." 

"Yes,  Jack,"  she  whispered. 

"I  know  he  will  give  you  to  me,"  earnestly.  "I 
believe  in  myself  to-day  as  I  never  did  before,  and  I  am 
sure  he  will  believe  in  me." 

"Yes;  but  papa's  such  a  practical  man,"  cooed  Anna, 
"he  is  not  apt  to  be  influenced  by  people's  moods.  I'm 
afraid  he  would  wish  for  some  indorsement  of  the  future 
beyond  your  faith  in  yourself." 

Jack's  face  fell  as  if  he  had  received  a  dash  of  very  cold 
water  indeed.  "  Then  I  must  prove  my  faith  by  my 
works,"  smiling.  "  At  least  my  honest  confession  of  the 
past  will  argue  in  my  favour.  It  would  with  any  man, 
Anna,"  he  urged  as  she  shook  her  head,  "a  practical 
man,  especially." 

"W-ell,  of  course  you  know.  Won't  you  sit  down?" 
pleadingly.  "Keep  the  sun  from  me  with  your  broad 
shoulders— there.  And  when  must  you  go  to  papa  with 
this  story?"  nestling  closer,  and  picking  the  threads  from 
his  cheviot  coat. 


ANDROSS.  Ill 

"I  shall  not  wait  a  day."  If  he  had  stopped  there, 
Anna  would  have  persisted  no  further.  Silence  was  an 
unknown  quantity,  a  sign  of  masculine  will  which  puz 
zled  and  daunted  her.  But  there  was  no  argument,  how 
ever  logical,  against  which  she  would  not  fly  bird-like,  to 
peck  a  flaw  in  it.  Andross  began  to  give  a  reason  for  his 
faith  to  himself.  "  I  never  felt  what  my  life  was  worth 
until  to-day.  I  must  act  like  a  man." 

"If  it  was  winning  me  made  you  feel  that,  you  are  in 
strange  haste  to  lose  me." 

"Lose  you!" 

({ Of  course,  lose  me!  You  go  to  papa  with  a  crime  in 
one  hand,  to  ask  for  me  for  the  other!  Just  as  I  thought 
all  was  so  pleasant  and  nice!  I've  been  so  lonely!  I 
thought  I  had  you  to  care  for  me  and  to  protect  me!" 
sobbing  and  cowering  close  to  his  side. 

"What  would  you  have  me  do?"  He  put  his  arm 
about  her,  looking  down  with  stupid  dismay. 

"Am  I  to  conceal  the  past  frcm  your  father?  Win 
you  like  a  thief?" 

"  Oh!  dear,  dear!  What  has  papa  to  do  with  the  past? 
Of  course  you  must  tell  him,  but  not  to-day.  Let  mo 
have  one  hour  of  sunshine.  To-morrow  will  do." 

Why  would  not  to-morrow  do?  Why  should  not  he, 
too,  have  an  hour  of  sunshine? 

The  sunlight  grew  dimmer,  the  light  rose  and  rested 
on  the  tree  tops;  Andross  saw  nothing  but  the  face 
upturned  to  his. 

"  Now,"  she  cooed,  "  tell  me  your  plans  for  us." 

Plans  for  us?  Here  was  his  very  dream  of  a  wife !  How 
could  a  man  go  wrong  who  could  bring  all  his  practical 
work-day  thoughts  to  this  little  fair  woman,  whose  soul 
within  her  was  meant  to  be  a  pure  counsellor — a  messen 
ger  of  God? 

He  spoke  more  cheerfully  and  confidently  than  he  had 
ever  dom  in  his  life.  "  One  thing  I  know,  I'll  never  go 


112  JOHN  AKDBOSS. 

astray  from  the  right  with  you  to  guide  me,  Anna.  I 
have  not  decided  on  any  certain  plan,  except  that  we  will 
go  as  far  from  the  seaboard  cities  as  possible — to  the  West, 
probably." 

"Chicago?  There's  a  great  deal  of  style  in  Chicago, 
I've  heard." 

"And  you  want  to  still  hide  in  the  woods,  Maud  Mul- 
ler?  But  you  must  be  practical,  darling.  I  could  earn  a 
living  more  readily  in  a  large  city.  I  could  get  a  position 
on  a  paper  in  Milwaukee,  I'm  sure — news  editor  or  some 
thing — until  I  looked  about  me;  that  would  keep  us  in 
bread  and  butter." 

"About  how  much  would  that  pay  you?" 

"Pay?"  a  little  surprised.  "I  don't  know.  Say 
fifteen  or  twenty  dollars  a  week." 

Anna's  cheek  was  very  hot.     She  sat  quite  erect.    • 

"  But  you  quite  forget  papa,  Mr.  Andross.  Of  course 
/  don't  care  for  money.  I'd  be  glad  to  live  with  you  in  a 
hut  or  a  cave.  But  papa  is  a  very  practical  man." 

"And  he  would  not  be  willing  for  me  to  try  to  support 
you  on  twenty  dollars  a  week?"  anxiously. 

"  Oh!  it  is  absurd  to  talk  of  that!"  the  ready,  vexed 
tears  on  her  lashes.  "Heaven  knows  I  would  go  with 
you  if  it  was  in  the  dead  of  night,  and  you  had  nothing 
but  your  steed  and  spurs,  like  the  old  knights.  But  papa 
has  refused  me  to  two  gentlemen  because  their  incomes 
were  less  than  his  own." 

Something  very  like  an  oath  choked  Jack's  throat. 

"  I've  neither  steed  nor  spurs,"  he  said.  "  Nor  is  there 
any  way  for  me  to  gain  an  income  equal  to  your  father's, 
that  I  can  use — even  for  you." 

"But  there  is  such  a  way,  you  mean?"  her  head 
dropped  plaintively  on  his  bosom. 

"Yes.     But  I  shall  not  use  it." 

A  long  silence  followed.  Anna  raised  her  head  at  last, 
and  looked  at  him  with  swimming  eyes. 


JOHN  AKDKOSS.  113 

"I  don't  blame  you,  God  knows!"  cried  Jack  vehe 
mently.  "  But  you're  the  only  thing  in  this  earth  un 
tainted  by  the  greed  for  money,  money!  Surely,"  after  a 
pause,  "you  wrong  your  father?  He  would  not  insist — 
when  he  knew  you  loved  me " 

"Oh!  but  indeed  he  would !"  hastily.  "If  he  knew 
it  would  kill  me  to  forbid  it  (and  I  wouldn't  be  surprised 
it  would  drive  me  into  a  decline)  he  would  never  let  me 
marry  even  a  reasonably  poor  man.  But  twenty  dollars  a 
week!  Why,  he  would  think  you  mad!" 

"  I  suppose  I  have  been  mad." 

"I  really  must  go  now,"  rising.  "'There  are  some 
people  coming  for  supper — 

"Anna!  Can  you  talk  of  supper  and  people  now? 
There,  there!  Don't  look  at  me  in  that  terrified  implor 
ing  way,"  calling  her  in  his  passion  and  rage  a  white  dove 
and  an  injured  angel,  and  himself  a  brute,  walking  beside 
her  to  the  gate,  frightened  into  silence  when  she  resorted 
again  to  tears  and  the  handkerchief. 

"You — you  must  not  be  unjust  to  poor  papa,"  she 
sobbed.  "  It  isn't  greed.  But  he's  so  foolishly  fond  of 
me,  he  thinks  nothing  good  enough  for  his  Nannie 

"Nothing  is  good  enough!  If  one  of  God's  angels 
came  down,  I  couldn't  find  clothes  or  lodging  fit  for  it, 
and  that's  the  way  I  feel  about  you.  But — I've  loved  you 
so!  It  seems  as  if  my  love  ought  to  be  enough ' 

"And  so  it  would  to  me,"  softly.  "But  poor  papa! 
Those  gentlemen  were  very  worthy  men,  and  of  the  very 
best  position  in  society,  and  quite  wealthy.  And  then  if 
you  went  to  him  and  said  I  am  John  An  dross,  and  I  have 
twenty  dollars  a  week,  and,  and " 

"In  danger  of  the  penitentiary.  No,"  with  a  loud 
laugh.  "You  reason  correctly;  my  recommendations  are 
not  of  the  best." 

They  had  reached  the  gate  now.  The  light  was  gone. 
The  sycamore  trees  in  front  of  the  house  swayed  wildly  to 


114  JOHK   ANDROSS. 

and  fro,  and  a  few  large  drops  fell  from  the  darkness 
overhead  on  Anna.  "  Go,  go!"  she  cried,  hurrying  under 
the  porch  and  holding  her  hand  to  Jack  without.  "  I  can 
not  ask  you  to  come  in.  Your  agitation  would  betray  all." 

The  door  and  windows  were  open,  the  house  was  bril 
liantly  lighted:  it  seemed  as  if  the  warmth  and  light  were 
about  to  absorb  the  fair  little  creature  in  her  fluttering 
curls  and  lace;  he,  without  in  the  rain  and  night. 

"I  don't  wish  to  go  in.  Why  should  I?"  wrenching 
her  hand  in  his  pain  until  he  hurt  her.  "  I  may  as  well 
say  good-by  to  you  now,  I  suppose,  and  be  done  with  it 
all,  as  any  other  time." 

She  leaned  a  little  farther  out.  "  It  must  be  good-by 
then?" 

Andross  was  silent. 

"  There  is  no  other  way?" 

"  No,"  sharply.     "  There  is  no  other  way." 

"Because,"  her  breath  was  warm  against  his  cheek 

now,  "if  there  was  another If  I  could  be  your  wife 

• — oh  Jack !  I  do  love  you ! " 

Her  lips  touched  his  and  she  was  gone. 

Andross  went  down  the  mountain,  not  knowing  that 
the  night  had  come,  and  a  drenching  rain  was  falling. 
It  seemed  to  his  excited  brain  as  if  the  hell  of  which 
Braddock  talked  lay  below,  and  that  he  was  walking 
steadily  and  purposely  into  it. 

Anna  hurried  to  the  kitchen  to  see  that  Miss  Shanks 
had  the  best  napkins  out  for  tea,  and  then  went  to  dress. 
She  wore  a  rose-tinted  silk,  while  lace  and  tags  of  ribbon 
and  tiny  gold  chains  made  a  soft  shimmer  all  over  her. 
She  fastened  some  blue  stars  of  the  succory  weed  in  her 
curls  of  pale  gold,  and  then  stood  back  from  the  mirror. 

"It  is  precisely  like  the  pictures  of  the  French  mar 
quises  that  one  sees  painted  on  porcelain.  He  will  be 
sure  to  notice  that." 

"He,"  was  Mr.  Ware,  who  was  coming  for  tea. 


JOHST  AtfDROSS.  115 


CHAPTEE    XII. 

8PELLIN",  who  came  into  the  office  next  morning  for 
the  monthly  accounts,  was  particularly  friendly  to 
Jack.  "  Andross  is  pulled  down  as  if  he'd  had  a  tug  with 
the  typhoid/'  he  told  the  judge  that  evening.  "  I  had  a 
capital  joke  on  Jake  to  tell  him,  and  he  laughed  (he'd 
laugh  in  the  jaws  of  death),  and  then  looked  at  Dr.  Brad- 
dock  as  if  scared  that  he'd  done  it.  He's  got  into  some 
devil  of  a  hobble,  Judge.  You  ought  to  see  to  it.  I 
think  it's  a  pity  a  good-natured,  jolly  fellow  like  that 
can't  have  his  laugh  out  in  this  world.  Now  the  doctor 
— he  rayther  enjoys  trouble;  what  with  his  civility  and 
his  backbone  and  religion,  he  knows  how  to  meet  it. " 

The  judge  hurried  Spellin  off.,  as  two  gentlemen  were 
going  to  walk  over  with  him  to  the  Works  to  see  a  casting 
by  night — Colonel  Latimer,  who  stood  smoking  by  the 
stile,  and  Mr.  Laird  from  Philadelphia.  They  were  wait 
ing  on  Mr:  Laird,  in  fact,  who  was  lingering  beside  Miss 
Maddox  in  the  little  parlor.  You  could  hear,  now  and 
then,  Anna's  sweet  little  pipe  of  a  voice  from  within  and 
bursts  of  musical  laughter. 

"I  must  go,  now,"  Mr.  Laird  was  saying,  as  he  bent 
over  the  piano  by  which  she  sat.  ' '  There  is  a  young  fel 
low,  Andross,  at  the  Works,  whom  I  wish  to  see.  I'm 
going  to  tempt  him  back  with  me  to  seek  his  fortune," 
looking  closely  into  her  face. 

"  His  fortune?  Oh!  Can  you ?  But  it  is  no  affair 

of  mine,"  dropping  her  eyes. 

"Can  I f"  smiling.  "Well,  lam  no  magician 

with  old  lamps  or  magic  purses  for  the  young  man,  Miss 


116  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

Maddox.  But  I  can  promise  him  work  suited  to  his 
capacity;  and  if  he  has  that,  a  brilliant  career  is  before 
him.  It  is  absurd  to  see  such  a  man  as  that  at  a  clerk's 
desk." 

"Yes,  indeed!"  said  Anna  warmly,  though  she  had 
always  looked  on  Jack  as  necessarily  a  weak,  illiterate  fel 
low,  owing  to  the  coaling  hearth  where  he  originated. 
She  pinned  a  rose  in  Laird's  button-hole,  and  stood  by 
the  window  waving  good-bys  to  him. 

"Your  daughter,  Judge,  is  the  freshest  and  sweetest 
creature  I  have  seen  lately!  She  reminds  me  of — of 
strawberries  and  cream,"  said  Laird  gallantly,  as  they 
walked  down  the  hill.  "  She  is  a  good  deal  interested  in 
young  Andross,  I  find." 

"  Mr.  Laird  has  promised  me  to  do  something  for  An 
dross,  Judge,"  interposed  the  colonel. 

"Ah!  that's  clever  of  you,  Mr.  Laird.  Yes,  Anna's 
interested  in  him.  We're  all  interested  in  poor  Jack.  If 
you  hold  out  your  hand,  the  young  man's  fortune  is  made, 
of  course." 

Maddox  was  secretly  annoyed,  and  showed  it.  Where 
was  he  to  get  a  clerk  who  would  do  Jack's  work  for  such 
wages? 

Andross  saw  them  coming  down  the  side  of  the  hill, 
picking  their  steps,  for  last  night's  rain  had  made  the 
ground  wet  and  clammy  as  a  sponge. 

He  laid  down  his  pen  and  looked  back  at  the  door. 

"Mr.  Andross!"  called  Braddock. 

Andross  did  not  answer. 

Nothing  was  easier  than  to  go  out  of  that  door,  and  in 
the  gathering  shadows  of  evening  take  the  hill-road  to 
Millheim,  and  somewhere,  in  some  corner  of  the  world 
where  Laird  was  unknown,  live  an  honest  life.  But  then 
he  should  leave  Anna  behind  him. 

If  he  waited,  in  five  minutes  Houston  Laird  would  be 
in  the  office.  He  would  offer  him  the  way  to  win  her. 


JOHN   ANDROSS.  117' 

He  got  down  from  the  desk-stool  and  took  his  coat  from 
the  peg,  being  at  the  time  in  his  shirt  sleeves. 

"Andross,"  said  the  doctor,  coming  in,  "I  wish  you 
would  notify  Spellin  that  Forbes's  account  is  overdue. 
There  were  five  loads  of  slag  against  flour  and 

He  stopped.  Jack  had  not  been  drinking?  His  face 
was  livid,  his  eyes  blazed.  Braddock  tapped  on  the  table. 

"What  is  the  matter  with  you?  What  are  you  laugh 
ing  at?" 

"  I  was  thinking  how  you  were  bringing  me  slag  and 
flour  to  balance  just  now,"  wildly.  "  I  beg  your  pardon, 
Braddock,"  after  a  moment.  "  I'll  attend  to  it.  I  am  a 
little  worried  about— about— 

His  coat  was  on,  and  he  had  taken  up  his  felt  hat,  and 
was  brushing  it  without  looking  at  it. 

"  You  are  going  out?"  said  Braddock.  "  I'll  make  out 
the  account  for  Spellin  at  once,  then.  Or  will  you  wait 
until  the  judge  is  gone?  I  see  him  at  the  gate  yonder 
with  some  men." 

Jack  stood  one  moment,  then  he  laid  down  his  hat. 

"I'll  not  go,"  he  said. 

He  sat  down  and  took  up  his  pen,  dipped  it  in  the  ink. 
The  gate  slammed  behind  them.  He  could  see  where 
their  umbrellas  shook  the  rain  from  the  old  cedar  by  the 
fence.  Their  heavy  boots  creaked  along  the  wet  boards; 
they  came  into  Braddock's  office;  the  door  was  ajar 
enough  for  him  to  hear  them  as  they  stood  talking  and 
joking  with  him. 

How  was  this?  Laird  was  not  only  a  companion  of 
Colonel  Latimer's,  but  Braddock  met  him  as  an  old 
friend;  Braddock  had  dined  with  him  in  Philadelphia; 
was  urging  him  to  go  up  and  see  his  mother.  Had  he 
been  mistaken?  What  if  Laird  were  the  genial,  honour 
able  man  and  Christian  they  held  him  to  be,  and  he  a 
morbid,  suspicious  fool? 

He  shook  his  head.     No.     No  need  to  try  to  hoodwink 


118  JOHN   ANDROSS.      . 

himself.  Right  was  right,  and  wrong,  wrong  clearly 
enough  before  him  to-night;  he  knew  the  man.  What 
he  was  going  to  do  would  be  done  with  his  eyes  open. 
He  lighted  the  lamp,  stirred  the  fire  which  the  chilly  rain 
had  rendered  necessary,  until  the  little  office  was  in  a  glow 
•  of  light,  then  turned  to  pull  down  the  window  shade  and 
shut  out  the  mountain,  that  filled  the  melancholy  twi 
light  and  lowered  down  on  him  like  an  accusing  ghost. 

-While  his  back  was  to  the  door,  it  was  pushed  open, 
and  turning  he  met  Houston  Laird,  the  light  falling  full 
on  his  stout,  well-dressed  figure,  his  pleasant  blue  eyes 
smiling,  his  fat  white  hand  held  out.  The  other  men 
were  behind. 

"Here  is  another  old  friend!  Why,  Andross,  how  hot 
you 'are  here !"  adroitly  covering  the  fact  that  his  hand 
was  not  taken,  by  lifting  his  beaver  hat  off,  and  wiping  his 
forehead.  -"Jack  always  had  something  tropical  in  his 
nature,"  looking  back  to  Maddox.  "  He  has  that  love  of 
colour,  music  and  the  like  which  we  Americans  lack.  I 
never  ventured  on  buying  a  piece  of  furniture,  much  less 
a  picture,  without  consulting  him.  The  fitting  of  our 
club-house  was  left  to  your  taste  altogether,  you  remem 
ber,  Andross.  He's  more  daring  in  his  effects  than  most 
men  would  venture  to  be,  simply  because  he  knows  his 
ground. " 

"Yes,  I  remember  the  old  club-house/'  said  Andross 
stiffly.  "I  suppose  there  is  a  different  set  of  men  there 
now?" 

"No.  Very  much  the  old  clique :  on  Friday  nights  at 
least,  excepting  Noyes,  who  is  married,  and  is  given  over 
to  literary  lectures  and  family  dinners,  and  poor  Fanning, 
who  was  sent  to  Nice  on  account  of  his  lungs.  But  they 
don't  make  the  gap  your  going  did." 

Jack  smiled.  He  knew  the  men  had  missed  him;  they 
were  good  genial  fellows,  alive  with  that  ready  energy  and 
wit  and  every-day  wisdom  which  belongs  to  the  present 


JOHN   ANDROSS.  119 

generation  of  cultured  young  men  in  towns;  in  the  club 
too,  Jack  knew  lie  was  an  authority,  while  Laird,  who  had 
nothing  but  his  money,  was  admitted  on  sufferance.  He 
warmed  insensibly.  "And  Koyes  is  married,  is  he?  He 
was  in  love  once  a  week.  How  did  the  battle  about  the 
reading-room  end?  There  was  some  money  to  be  spent 
there,  and  Stewart  wanted  to  put  it  into  a  couple  of 
Hamilton's  marines,  and  Fetridge  to  buy  some  old  histor 
ical  relics  of  his  family." 

"I  suppose  blood  carried  it  tlicn^.  There  are  some 
rusty  swords  and  chairs  and  such  lumber  there." 

The  bell  of  the  Works  tolled. 

"  That  is  for  the  cast,  I  believe,  Mr.  Andross.  Bring 
your  friend  in.  Come,  gentlemen,"  said  the  judge. 
There  was  an  odd  change  in  his  manner  to  Andross,  just 
as  Laird  intended  there  should  be.  The  intimate  friend 
of  Houston  Laird,  a  fashionable  club-man  and  diner-out, 
was  a  totally  different  person  from  Braddock's  protege, 
picked  up  at  a  coaling  hearth. 

"  There's  a  queer  story  going  now  about  Fetridge.,  by 
the  way,"  said  Mr.  Laird,  taking  Jack's  arm  as  they  went 
out  of  the  office.  They  stood  apart  by  tlie  furnace,  while 
Laird  told  it,  and  when  it  was  finished,  Jack  shouted 
with  laughter.  It  brought  the  old  pleasant  times  vividly 
before  him.  Half  an  hour  ago  he  would  have  said  that 
this  man  on  whose  arm  he  leaned  came  there  to  lead  him 
back  into  hell;  he  forgot  all  about  that  now.  The  men 
gathered  in  at  the  tap  of  the  bell :  they  were  covered  with 
grime  and  naked  to  the  waist.  The  furnace  threw  uncer 
tain  red  gleams  through  the  large  wooden  shed,  on  the 
heaps  of  cinders  and  green  glassy  slag  out  to  the  pitchy 
darkness  without,  where  the  rain  was  beginning  to  fall 
and  the  wind  to  sough  ominously  through  the  mountain 
gorge.  Andross  stood  apparently  watching,  like  the 
others,  the  men  draw  troughs  in  the  wet  sand  of  the 
floor.  How  like  the  winking  eye  of  a  beast  of  prey  the 


220  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

furtive  dull  gleam  of  the  fire  was!  there  was  a  fierceness, 
a  homelessness  in  the  moan  of  the  wind  which  the  invig 
orating  breezes  in  town  never  had;  the  men,  too  (good 
fellows  every  one,  Jack  had  thought  them  in  the  morn 
ing),  there  was  a  savage  quality  in  their  ignorant  face?, 
due  doubtless  to  the  solitude  of  the  huge  mountain  fast 
ness  about  them.  Fetridge  and  the  others  just  now  were 
at  dinner  together  somewhere;  the  gas  burned  softly; 
there  were  flowers  on  the  table;  the  talk  was  of  the  old 
pictures  which  Whitten  had  brought  back  after  the  siege 
of  Paris,  or  of  Tom  Pool's  book,  or  of  any  other  trifle; 
but  with  the  subtle  free-masonry  under  all  which  gave 
to  every  word  a  fine  unspoken  humour  and  meaning. 
After  dinner  they  would  drop  into  the  Walnut,  or  go  to 
listen  to  Nilsson  as  Gretchen  in  the  great  cathedral  scene. 
The  opera  with  its  lights  and  tier  on  tier  of  beautiful 
women,  and  music  that  uttered  all  passion  and  pain- 
that  was  different  from  this  dingy  shed  and  the  slag  and 


rain ! 


'Very  picturesque  thing,  a  casting  by  night,"  said  the 
judge,  coming  up  to  Laird.  "At  least  so  Mr.  Andross 
thinks,  and  he  has  a  good  artistic  eye,  as  you  say,  sir. 
Known  him  long?"  lowering  his  voice. 

< '  Since  he  was  a  boy,"  promptly.  "  He  belongs  to  a 
good  Delaware  county  family — none  better."  For  he  was 
determined  to  smooth  all  obstacles  between  Jack  and 
Anna.  There,  he  saw,  was  his  future  hold  upon  him. 

"Queer  now,  his  going  out  to  burn  charcoal?  Brad- 
dock  found  him  at  a  hearth  in  the  mountains.  Fact,  sir; 
how  do  you  account  for  it,  eh?" 

"  Pooh!  A  boy's  whim.  He  fancied  himself  tired  of 
excess  of  civilization,  and  tried  solitude,  just  as  W3  older 
men  change  our  liquor,  when  the  taste  of  one  palls." 

"You  intend  to  take  him  back  with  you?"  anxiously. 

"If  I  can.  We  need  a  man  of  just  such  qualities. 
There's  a  high  ladder  ready  for  him  to  climb.  But  per- 


JOH:N"  ANDROSS.  121 

haps  some  mountain  beauty  has  made  him  too  much  in 
love  with  solitude,"  with  a  significant  smile. 

"Tut!  tut!  Nothing  of  that!"  But  the  judge  bent 
anxious  looks  on  the  ground.  What  if  this  handy,  clever 
fellow,  who  had  been  so  ready  to  fetch  and  carry,  should 
turn  out  all  that  Laird  prophesied?  Where  would  he 
find  such  a  match  for  Anna?  "  Even  if  there  were  such 
a  thing,"  he  said  aloud,  "it  would  be  better  for  him  to 
go  earn  a  social  position  for  his  wife  than  to  stay  drudg 
ing  here  on  a  sub-clerk's  pay." 

"Certainly!  certainly!    Did  you  speak,  Latimer?" 

"  They  are  going  to  draw,  now.  The  melted  metal  has 
accumulated  behind  that  iron  flap,  and  the  firemen  will 
let  it  out  into  the  wet  troughs  of  sand." 

"I  see,  I  see." 

There  was  some  delay,  however,  in  the  drawing,  and 
Laird  meanwhile  went  back  to  Andross  where  he  stood 
alone.  "Jack!"  he  said,  with  a  certain  blunt  friendli 
ness  in  his  tone.  "  Jack,  I  came  up  to  the  mountains 
purposely  to  find  you." 

"  I  know  you  did." 

Neither  of  the  men  lowered  his  voice.  Latimer  and 
Braddock,  with  some  of  the  workmen,  were  within  hear 
ing.  Now  that  the  hand-to-hand  struggle  had  come 
which  was  to  end  in  a  mastery  for  life  of  one  over  the 
other,  nobody  who  heard  them  detected  any  deeper  mean 
ing  in  their  words  than  an  ordinary  business  parley. 

"  Yes,"  said  Laird  carelessly;  "  I  heard  you  were  here, 
and  I  ran  up  from  Harrisburgh  to  see  you.  What  the 
deuce  is  that  fellow  with  the  ash-rake  doing  now?  I  want 
you  to  drop  this  folly,  Jack,  and  come  back  to  your  desk 
in  the  office,  and  to  the  club,  and  to  your  old  place  in 
every  respect.  It  will  pay  you  to  come." 

"And  you,"  quietly. 

"And  me,  of  course,"  smiling.  "What  else  should  I 
come  here  for?  I  am  not  acting  as  a  philanthropist  in 


122  JOHN  ASTDROSS. 

the  matter,  by  any  means."  Whatever  covert  threat  lay 
under  Andross's  words  lost  half  its  force  when  thus  coolly 
met  as  a  plain,  practical  argument.  "  I  know  your  value 
to  the  company  in  a  business  point  of  view.  You  know 
our  routine,  our  secrets — every  company  has  its  secrets;" 
nodding  to  Maddox,  who  stood  by  attentive,  "eh,  judge? 
We  have  found  nobody  to  take  Mr.  Andross's  place;  and, 
in  fact,  we  want  to  find  nobody.  We're  ready  to  bid 
high  for  him  again. " 

"Ton  my  word,  I  wish  such  a  chance  had  been  put 
before  me  at  your  age,  Jack,"  chuckled  the  judge. 

Andross  spoke  as  deliberately  as  Braddock  would  have 
done,  when  he  did  reply,  which  was  after  the  pause  of  a 
minute  or  two.  "You  overrate  the  necessity  of  my 
return.  Whatever  tricks  of  the  trade  I  may  know  are 
safe  with  me.  I  shall  not  disclose  them.  It  is  only  fair, 
before  you  bid,  to  tell  you  that." 

"As  if  he  expects  me  to  trust  him,"  sneered  Laird  to 
himself,  "when  ten  words  from  him  could  ruin  the  busi 
ness  for  years,"  applying  inwardly,  as  he  never  failed  to 
do,  the  salving  reflection  that  the  business  was  honest, 
though  it  chanced  to  be  run  counter  to  popular  preju 
dices.  "Why!  you  talk  as  if  you  were  gray-headed!" 
aloud.  "Where  is  the  old  headlong  Jack  gone?  You 
f  used  to  be  ready  to  tumble  into  whatever  pitfall  offered; 
but  now  you  mean  to  pick  your  steps?"  meaningly. 

"Yes,  I  do.  I  fully  expected  you  to  make  some  offer 
to  me  to-night,  and  I  mean  to  stand  quite  free-footed  in 
considering  it.  None  of  the  old  reasons  which  induced 
me  to  remain  in  the  employ  of  the  company  will  weigh 
with  me  now." 

"  One  moment,  Andross,"  beckoning  him  aside  but  not 
altering  his  pleasant  voice,  and  nodding  confidentially; 
"ten  words  can  settle  this  matter  between  us  now  that 
we  are  out  of  hearing  of  these  people.  I  want  you.  You 
know  how  and  why.  I  am  willing  to  pay  you  your  price. 


JOHN   ABTDROSS.  123 

You  want  me  just  as  much.  The  company  were  naturally 
indignant  at  your  defection;  but  no  exposure  has  been 
made  by  them  of  that  old  business  concerning  your  father 
— stop;  hear  me  out — nor  shall  be  made,  if  I  can  prevent 
it,  whether  you  return  or  not.  Revenge  is  not  business. 
But  look  at  the  matter  in  the  light  of  your  own  interest. 
You  remain  here,  an  underling  of  that  prig,  Braddock; 
obscure,  poor,  unknown.  Suppose  you  wanted  to  marry 
(every  young  man  ought  to  marry,  and  that  early),  what 
chance  have  you?"  eyeing  him  sharply,  and  quite  aware 
when  he  had  touched  the  quick.  "  Whereas,  if  you  come 
with  me,  in  one  year,  I  assure  you,  not  a  competency,  but 
what  even  in  town  would  be  called  a  large  fortune.  The 
opportunities  thrown  in  your  way  of  turning  over  money 
are  treble  what  they  used  to  be.  In  addition,  I  intend 
that  you  shall  be  elected  to  the  state  senate  this  winter. 
You  know  what  that  means.  Sheffield,  of  our  district,  is 
dying.  A  man  must  go  in  for  the  remaining  six  months. 
You  have  the  certainty,  at  option,  oj:  reelection.  There 
is  not  a  mercenary  father  who  would  not  bestow  his 
daughter  as  cheerfully  upon  you  as  upon  Aladdin  with 
his  house  built  out  of  jewels." 

"Now,  Mr.  Laird,"  called  out  the  judge,  "you  observe 
the  man  withdraws  that  block  against  the  hearth " 

"Yes,  Fm  watching.     What  do  you  say,  Andross?" 

Andross  thought  that  he  had  made  up  his  mind  before 
he  met  Laird,  and  that  the  struggle  was  over.  But  for  a 
man  worthy  the  name  to  give  up  his  manhood  forever, 
costs  more  actual  pain  usually  than  the  physical  loss  of 
life. 

"What  do  you  say?"  Laird  repeated,  coming  close  in 
the  darkness  to  look  up  to  him.  At  the  moment  there 
was  a  flash  of  blinding  light  from  the  furnace,  and  seeing 
Jack's  face  close  beside  him,  Laird  drew  back  appalled. 

"Poor  devil!  I  wish  Fd  let  him  alone  in  the  begin 
ning!"  he  thought  to  himself,  and  walked  hastily  away. 


124  JOHN  ANDROSS. 

Braddock  and  Latimer  came  up  to  explain  the  process. 
The  melted  iron,  like  white  fiery  serpents,  crept  through 
the  troughs  drawn  in  the  wet  sand,  flinging  off  myriads 
of  burning  sparks.  The  sooty  overhanging  roof,  the  men 
standing  about,  the  shining  glitter  of  rain  in  the  outside 
blackness,  the  far  oft  mountains,  were  suddenly  illumi 
nated  with  a  red,  angry  glare.  Laird  could  have  seen 
Andross  distinctly,  but  Jie  kept  his  back  turned  to  him. 
He  was  heartily  sorry  for  him,  and  if  the  actual  existence 
of  the  Company  had  not  been  involved,  would  have  "let 
up  on  him,"  as  he  said.  But  what  would  become  of  the 
National  Transit  Association,  if  Andross  chose  to  disclose 
that  it  was,  in  fact,  a  band  of  distillers?  And  where 
would  Houston  Laird  be  in  church,  or  the  "Christian 
Brotherhood,"  if  it  crept  into  print  that  their  president 
was  head  of  a  Whiskey  Eing?  As  for  Jack's  religious  or 
honest  scruples  that  was  balderdash.  But  Laird  could 
appreciate  a  young  fellow's  dislike  to  the  weight  of  a  yoke 
about  his  neck;  it  Appealed  to  his  sentimental  nature  as 
would  a  strain  of  music. 

' { It's  cursedly  hard  lines  on  Jack  to  have  a  lot  of  men 
say  '  go '  or  '  come '  at  their  pleasure !  I  wish  I  could  turn 
the  thing  for  him!  But  he  knows  too  much.  No  pad 
lock  will  serve  on  a  man's  mouth,  but  death  or  money. 
Yes,  very  fine,  Judge,  very  fine !  I  should  like  to  have 
seen  the  effect  from  a  distance  through  the  rain.  Ah! 
Mr.  Andross,  did  you  speak?"  turning  sharply  as  Jack 
touched  his  shoulder. 

f f  I'll  go.     On  my  own  terms." 

"Very  well.     I'm  heartily  glad  for  the  sake  of  the 

Company,"  rubbing  his  hands  with  congratulation.     But 

,  he  had  not  the  bad  taste  to  offer  one  of  them  to  Andross. 

"  Our  friend  Jack  has  consented  to  go  with  me,  Judge," 

in  a  loud  voice. 

"Aha!  Well  done,  Andross!  Your  fortune's  made, 
my  lad!"  coming  up.  Latimer  and  Braddock  followed 


"MOTHER!  MOTHER!"  HE  CRIED.    HE  WAS  TURNING  FROM 
FOREVER. 


JOHN"  ANDROSS.  127 

him.  But  Jack  was  gone.  The  momentary  illumination 
was  over,  and  but  for  a  dull  glimmer  the  shed  was  in 
darkness. 

While  the  men  in  a  cheerful  group  took  their  way  to 
the  judge's,  a  dark  figure  lagged  dully  along  toward  the 
mountain  in  the  rain.  "All  for  love  and  the  world  well 
lost!"  he  said  aloud  with  a  laugh.  But  it  was  not  a  pleas 
ant  laugh  to  hear.  He  knew  it  was  his  last  night  in  the 
mountains,  where  he  had  tried  to  be  honest  and  cour 
ageous. 

God  had  weighed  him  for  the  last  time  in  the  balances, 
and  found  him  wanting. 

He  could  not  keep  his  mind  on  Fetridge  and  the  club, 
nor  on  Anna.  He  found  himself  chanting  in  his  rolling 
baritone,  "The  Lord  is  my  shepherd,  I  shall  not  want." 
It  sounded  like  a  devil's  voice  mocking  him.  It  seemed 
but  an  hour  ago  that  he  lay,  a  little  fellow  of  eight,  on 
his  trundle-bed,  his  face  chapped  with  the  wind  and  his 
hands  black  with  bruises,  and  his  mother  sat  beside  him 
on  the  foot  of  the  bed  teaching  him  that  psalm.  A  little 
pock-marked  woman  with  a  coarse  brown  stuff  dress;  but 
no  face  in  the  world  had  ever  been  to  him  as  fair  and 
dear  as  that  one. 

"  The  Lord  is  my  shepherd."  Why  could  he  not  drive 
the  cursed  words  out  of  his  head?  "  He  is  the  shepherd 
of  a  lot  of  pious  people  in  church,"  he  said,  walking 
faster,  "but  I  don't  see  but  that  the  rest  of  us  have  to 
shift  for  ourselves  as  best  we  can.  The  '  green  pastures ' 
of  this  world  belong  to  them  who  can  pay  for  them.  It 
is  men  like  Laird  who  sit  beside  the  'still  waters,'"  with 
a  bitter  chuckle. 

But  even  as  he  said  it  he  stopped  on  the  side  of  the 
mountain,  looking  to  the  one  gray  break  in  the  rain- 
drenched  sky. 

"  Mother!  mother!"  he  cried,  though  his  dry  lips  made 
no  sound.  He  was  turning  from  her  forever.  Was  there 


128  JOHN^   ANDROSS. 

no  help  for  him?  Was  it  all  money — money?  "Was  this 
talk  of  the  Lord  a  lie  with  which  weak  women  fooled 
themselves? 

When  Jack  was  a  little  fellow  learning  his  psalm,  his 
mother  knew  that  the  next  day  at  school  he  would  be 
wholly  ruled  by  whatever  boy  sat  nearest  to  him.  It  was 
with  the  old  boyish  affectionate  eyes  and  uncertain  mouth, 
he  stood  now  choosing  his  way  of  life.  If  he  could  go  to 
Braddock  for  help?  But  he  was  afraid  of  Braddock  and 
Braddock's  God.  To  Anna?  He  shook  his  head.  Anna's 
only  thought,  dear  child,  was  a  good  salary  for  him. 
Salary  and  clubs,  work,  here  was  enough  to  reach  for. 
He  went  on  to  meet  them,  but  he  did  not  look  back  to 
the  gray  break  in  the  sky.  A  chance  for  another  life  lay 
behind  him  in  the  mountains,  which  should  never  come 
to  him  again. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

IT  was  in  the  middle  of  December  when  Mr.  Laird 
came  up  to  the  mountains  again.  Colonel  Latimer 
met  him  at  the  Lock  Haven  station  one  nipping,  bright 
winter's  day,  and  rescued  him  from  two  local  editors,  who 
were  taking  notes  of  every  word,  wink,  and  garment,  of 
the  ' '  Great  Railroad  King,"  for  their  next  issue. 

"Why  don't  you  ask  what  the  deuce  brought  me  here 
in  such  weather  ?  I  know  you  think  it,"  tucking  the 
buffalo  skin  tightly  about  his  knees  in  the  sleigh  as  they 
drove  off. 

"  I  did  think  it.     Nothing  wrong  ?" 

"For  one  thing,  I  felt  qualmish;  I  don't  know 
whether  it's  an  inactive  liver  or  disgust  at  trade,  and  the 
town  and  life  in  toto,  but  I  do  know  there's  something 
in  the  mountain  air  and  the  solitude,  and — well,  your 


JOHX   A^DROSS.  129 

daughter,  Latimer — that  acts  like  a  tonic  or  galvanic  bat 
tery  on  me — keys  me  right  up.  When  I  go  down  from 
here  I  always  am  resolved  to  turn  over  a  new  leaf  for  both 
soul  and  stomach ;  forswear  late  suppers,  and  money- 
making,  and — all  the  rest  of  it." 

"Morbid,  morbid!  If  every  man  could  have  your 
record! "said  the  colonel  gravely.  "Why,  look  at  the 
Christian  Brotherhood  you  founded,  and  the  homes 
for— 

"Yes,  yes,"  uneasily.  "Never  mind  that  now.  I 
was  joking,  of  course.  My  other  reason  for  coming  was 
to  bring  you  back  with  me,  Latimer.  I  want  to  convince 
you  what  folly  it  is  to  bury  yourself  and  Isabel  here  in 
snow  and  ice  doing  nothing,  while  you  ought  to  be  laying 
up  a  snug  sum  for  her  future." 

"You  will  leave  nobody  in  Mttany.  First  you  took 
Andross,  and  then  the  judge  and  Anna,  and  then  Brad- 
dock.  Bell  will  think  of  you  as  the  spider  with  the  flies, 
if  you  tempt  me  down  into  your  web." 

The  colonel's  attempted  pleasantry  was  not  successful. 
"I  am  aware  that  Miss  Latimer  has  a  remarkable  relig 
ious  prejudice  against  towns,"  said  Laird  irritably.  "  She 
refers  most  of  the  usual  ways  of  earning  a  decent  liveli 
hood  directly  to  the  devil.  As  for  Maddox,  he  was  sell 
ing  his  iron  at  a  loss  after  October ;  he  consulted  me,  and 
I  advised  him  to  stop  the  Works,  unlock  his  capital,  give 
it  to  me  to  invest  for  him  and  to  come  down  to  town  to 
keep  an  eye  over  it,  as  I  might  say.  The  change  has 
certainly  been  of  advantage  to  him  pecuniarily.  As  for 
that  brilliant  little  girl  of  his,  she  needed  society — she 
opens  in  it  like  a  flower  in  hothouse  air.  I  certainly  had 
nothing  to  do  with  young  Braddock's  desertion  of  Nit- 
tany.  It  seemed  a  sensible  move  enough  when  he  was 
thrown  out  of  employment  here.  Even  Miss  Latimer, 
surely,  could  not  have  objected  to  that." 
The  colonel  was  silent.  He  jerked  the  reins,  glancing 


130  JOHX   ANDROSS. 

anxiously  at  his  companion  as  they  hurried  over  the  icy 
path.  Laird,  he  knew,  was  ignorant  of  the  right  Isabel 
had  to  a  share  in  Braddock's  movements.  He  did  not 
want  to  tell  him  the  whole  story ;  how  the  marriage  had 
been  arranged  for  August,  and  postponed  by  Braddock 
without  farther  reason  than  lack  of  funds  on  which  to 
support  a  wife.  Part  of  the  matter,  however,  he  could 
lay  before  Laird  with  advantage ;  but  just  as  he  was 
planning  how  to  begin,  his  companion  abruptly  turned 
to  him : 

"  The  fact  is,  I  should  like  to  explain  what  it  is  I  wish 
you  to  do  before  encountering  Isabel's  prejudices.  There's 
an  end,  I  understand,  to  your  experiments  here  ?  " 

"  Oh  !  altogether.  When  the  Works  stopped  there  w^as 
no  chance  for  me.  I  could  afford  to  hire  the  hands  now 
and  then  for  a  day,  but  not  to  run  the  furnace.  Well, 
to  tell  the  truth,"  laughing,  "  Bell  and  I  have  to  draw 
the  lines  tolerably  close,  even  in  the  house." 

Laird  nodded  gravely.  "I  thought  so.  Now  listen. 
You  know  a  man  in  my  business — railroads,  transporta 
tion,  etc. — has  a  good  deal  of  surplus  capital.  I  have 
put  it  into  a  business  about  which  I  say  little  because  of 
a  popular  prejudice  against  it.  This  is  all  sub-rosa,  of 
course  ?" 

"Of  course." 

"Well,  since  the  government  put  that  absurd  tax  on 
distilled  liquors,  thousands  of  barrels  are  secretly  made  in 
Philadelphia  in  Irish  cabins ;  poison,  sir,  sheer  poison ! 
Made  out  of  the  vile  deck-scrapings  of  sugar  vessels,  and 
seasoned  with  vitriol  or  strychnine.  But  the  profits  are 
e-normous  !  Well,  to  prevent  this  sort  of  thing,  respect 
able  men  have  gone  properly  into  the  business  on  a  large 
scale,  and  they  have  induced  me  to  invest  a  good  share 
of  capital  in  it ! " 

"  In  distilling  whiskey  I" 

"  JSTow,  you're  not  a  teetotal  fanatic.     I'm  sure  of  that, 


JOHK  ASTDROSS.  131 

Colonel.  You  take  wine.  Can't  you  see  the  propriety 
of  giving  the  poor  devils  who  don't  take  wine  a  pure  arti 
cle  to  drink  instead  of  liquid  death  ?  I  may  have  been 
wrong,"  with  an  anxious  frown,  "but  I  did  it  for  the 
sake  of  humanity.  Of  course  I  only  draw  my  dividends. 
I  never  was  in  the  distillery  in  my  life." 

"  But  I  don't  see,"  evasively,  "what  I  have  to  do  with 
this?" 

"  Oh,"  eagerly,  "now  we  come  to  the  point!  There 
is  a  certain  office  vacant  in  the  city — Collector — and 
these  gentlemen — this  organization  for  putting  down 
illicit  distillers " 

"The  'Whiskey  King,'  Andross  called  it,  I  think?" 

"  Very  probably.  Mr.  Andross's  imagination  is  a  fer 
tile  one.  Did  he  tell  you  that  /belonged  to  it  ?" 

Now  the  colonel,  dull  as  he  was  in  such  matters,  saw 
that  Laird  was  in  a  smothered  white  heat  of  rage  at  the 
bold,  coarse  name  of  his  business.  He  stammered  out, 
"  No ;  "  that  Jack  had  not  spoken  of  him  as  one  of  the 
Ring,  but  continued  to  ponder  and  eye  him  like  a  con 
fused  owl,  with  some  vague  remembrance  of  Andross's 
story,  and  a  notion  that  there  was  a  mystery  and  disgrace 
with  which  Laird  had  had  something  to  do,  under  the 
matter,  which  he  ought  to  be  able  to  understand.  Brad- 
dock,  no  doubt,  if  he  were  here,  could  see  to  the  bottom 
of  it  in  a  minute. 

"This  organization,"  said  Laird,  after  a  moment's 
pause,  "have,  as  I  was  going  to  say,  a  good  deal  of 
power  in  city  affairs.  We  can  give  this  Collectorship  to 
whom  we  please  ;  and  as  soon  as  I  heard  of  it  on  Friday, 
I  said,  'Latimer's  the  man  !'  Pontifex — tne  banker,  you 
know — wanted  it  for  his  brother-in-law.  But  I  said, 
'No,  Latimer's  the  man!'  So  I  determined  to  take  a 
holiday,  and  run  right  up  about  it." 

"It  was  very  kind  in  you,  Laird,  I'm  sure." 

"  Not  at  all.     But  it's  a  snug  thing,  I  can  tell  you, 


132  JOH^   AXDROSS. 


Colonel.  Why,  Prideaux,  who  had  it  before,  built  a  ducal 
/palace  out  Broad  street,  and  lived  in  it  like  a  duke,  too  !" 

"I  had  no  idea  that  government  paid  its  civil  service 
officers  at  such  rate.  Now,  in  the  army  we  -  " 

Laird  shot  a  doubtful,  keen  look  at  the  colonel.  Ware 
had  hinted  that  the  "  innocent  old  patriarch"  would  not 
only  make  a  fine  figure-head  for  the  business,  but  would 
soon  be  wide  enough  awake  to  all  the  tricks  of  the  trade. 
But  Laird  knew  better.  The  very  invincible  integrity  of 
the  colonel  was  the  capital  they  needed  with  which  to 
face  the  public.  It  must  be  genuine,  or  it  was  worth 
nothing.  He  had  made  a  misstep  in  hinting  at  bribes. 

"  There  are  some  perquisites  attached  to  the  office,"  he 
replied  quietly.  "The  salary  is  not  large  in  itself. 
Probably  they  were  larger  when  Prideaux  held  it  than  at 
present.  " 

"  Oh,  I  shall  not  object  to  the  size  of  the  salary  !  If  I 
take  the  office,  the  money  will  be  my  only  object.  If  I 
sell  my  birthright,  let  the  mess  of  pottage  be  as  large  as 
possible." 

"You  mean  by  your  birthright  -  ?" 

"  Bell  and  I  have  been  very  happy  here,  and  contented. 
I  doubt  whether  money  would  bring  us  either  happiness 
or  content." 

"Yet  you  want  it  —  like  the  others  ?"  laughing. 

"I've  a  reason  for  that,"  anxiously.  "The  man  who 
was  to  have  been  Bell's  husband  has  different  notions 
from  mine  about  dollars  and  cents.  I've  gone  through 
the  world  head  over  heels.  He  has  Scotch  canniness; 
you  understand  ?  Very  praiseworthy,  no  doubt.  He  is 
afraid  to  marry,  unless,  as  he  says,  he  can  feel  the  ground 
under  his  feet.  So,  for  the  child's  sake,  if  I  had  a  few 
hundreds  ahead  -  " 

"Quite  right.  I  did  not  know  that  Miss  Larimer's 
choice  was  made,"  drily. 

Mr.  Laird  remained  silent  after  that.     Certainly  his 


JOHN  ANDROSS.  133 

pangs  of  disappointment  at  the  knowledge  that  Miss 
Latimer  could  never  be  his  wife  could  not  be  extreme, 
his  passion  for  her  having  been  of  the  most  leisurely  and 
well-bred  description ;  they  quite  equalled,  however,  the 
anger  and  annoyance  he  felt  when  his  friend  Patterson 
outbid  him  the  week  before  for  a  Gerome  which  he 
admired.  Neither  Bell  nor  the  Gerome  would  have  been 
in  keeping  with  his  drawing-room  furniture,  perhaps ; 
he  was  not  quite  sure  that  he  really  wanted  either  of 
them ;  but  why  should  any  other  man  have  them  ?  The 
other  man  in  this  case,  he  guessed  at  once  to  be  that 
pious  prig,  Braddock,  who  ha<£  been  afraid  to  trust  him 
with  his  paltry  savings.  He  would  take  care  that  the 
course  of  true  love  did  not  run  smooth  in  that  quarter. 

"I  am  sure  that  Isabel's  choice,  whoever  it  may  be,  is 
a  wise  one,"  he  said  presently.  "  Better,  perhaps,  if  he 
had  not  been  of  so  practical  a  turn ;  if  she  lacks  any 
thing,  it  is  imagination.  But  as  for  you,  Colonel,  it  is 
your  business  to  enable  them  to  marry.  Experimenting 
for  humanity  is  all  very  well ;  but  if  a  man  has  children, 
he  is  bound  to  furnish  them  with  a  solid  foundation  for 
happiness." 

"In  the  shape  of  money?"  smiling. 

"In  the  shape  of  money.  I  want  you  to  think  over 
this  offer  of  mine  to-night,  Latimer.  I've  a  paper  in  my 
pocket  with  the  details  set  down.  Hillo  !  here  we  are  at 
Millhall  already." 


CHAPTEK    XIV. 

,  Bell,  there  is  no  reason  in  what  you  say." 
"But  it  is  true,  father."    They  were  waiting  in 
the  supper-room  for  Mr.  Laird,  and  had  been  talking  in 
an  eager,  low  tone  for  some  time.     A  red  heat  had  come 
into  Isabel's  cheeks  as  they  talked,  and  her  eyes  burned. 


134  JOHK  AKDROSS. 

"You  talk  as  if  the  earning  an  honest  livelihood  were 
worship  of  the  devil.  For  my  part,"  said  the  colonel, 
stretching  his  long  legs  before  the  fire,  "I  feel  that  dab 
bling  in  philanthropy  and  science  has  been  too  lazy  a  busi 
ness  for  me.  It's  high  time  I  went  to  hard  work.  I  don't 
understand  your  objections.  I  can  see  no  sin  in  a  large 
salary  any  more  than,"  glancing  at  the  supper-table, 
"I  can  see  the  grace 'of  God  in  cheap  meat  and  no 
butter." 

"I  don't  like  dry  bread  either,"  with  a  shrug,   "but 

I  nobody  here  thinks  the  worse  of  us  that  we  eat  it.  I  sup 
pose  it  is  because  the  mountains  are  so  huge,  and  the  sky 
so  near,  but  you  know  it  is  a  fact  that  money  or  the  want 
of  it  is  a  trifling  matter  here.  "We  take  so  little  account 
of  it,  that  we  have  time  to  think  of  other  things.  But  in 
town,  one  smells  the  dollar  everywhere.  People  are  not 
ranked  by  their  birth,  as  they  were  down  in  Virginia,  or 
by  their  creative  power,  as  they  used  to  say  up  in  Con 
cord,  but  by  their  money.  Very  soon,  papa,  you  and  I 
would  take  the  fever  with  the  others.  We  would  spend 
_one  half  of  our  lives  grubbing  for  the  money,  and  the 
other  in  displaying  it  to  shame  our  neighbours." 

"Here  is  a  moralist!"  laughed  Mr.  Laird,  who  had 
come  in  unseen  behind  her.  "  But  I'm  inclined  to  doubt 
the  effect  of  your  huge  mountains  and  sky  as  a  cure  for 
that  fever,  Miss  Latimer,"  placing  her  chair  behind  the 
urn.  "  You  must  remember  that  I  know  your  modern 
Arcadias  tolerably  well :  I've  not  had  the  luck  to  find 
Cincinnatus  at  the  plough,  or  Una  at  the  churn.  Take 
your  Berks  county  Dutchman,  for  instance — who  lives 
on  the  refuse  potatoes  and  pork  of  his  farm,  and  hoards 
his  penny  savings  in  the  clock-case ;  and  his  daughter  has 
just  as  keen  a  zest  for  fashion  as  any  city  belle;  she  loops 
up  her  calico  into  a  panier,  and  strings  wax-beads  in  her 
hair  instead  of  pearls."  Isabel  laughed,  but  Laird  was  in 
no  humour  for  jesting.  "I  did  not  know,"  turning 


JOHIN'   A^DROSS.  135 

sharply  on  the  colonel,  "  that  yon  proposed  telling  Miss 
Latimer  of  my  proposal  immediately ! " 

"  Oh  yes  ! "  calmly.     ' '  Bell  and  I  are  partners." 

Mr.  Laird  sat  down  at  the  table,  disarranging  the 
napkin  and  plate  while  he  leaned  forward  to  renew  the 
argument  with  her ;  suddenly  silent  again  when  he  re 
membered  that  she  never  argued,  and  had  none  of  the 
modern  glibness  of  women.  He  knew  her  to  be  as  slow 
of  speech  as  Moses,  except  to  her  father.  She  had  no 
brilliancy,  no  accomplishments,  no  beauty  such  as  was 
possessed  by  a  dozen  girls  in  New  York,  who  would  not 
be  unfavourable  to  his  suit,  and  who  as  wives  could  bring 
both  influence  and  money.  What  was  there  in  the  girl 
that  always  made  him,  when  near  her,  feel  how  shabby  a 
thing  his  life  was,  of  how  little  import  his  money  ?  He 
certainly  had  never  felt  any  love  or  passion  for  her ;  it 
was  rather  an  overwhelming  conviction  that  as  his  wife 
she  could  and  would  lift  him  to  a  higher  level  than  any 
man  would  have  thought  it  possible  for  Houston  Laird  to 
attain. 

"  It's  maudlin  sentiment,"  he  thought,  staring  medi 
tatively  at  her  from  under  his  red  eyebrows.  "  I've  had 
the  same  sort  of  impression  looking  at  old  Nittany  or 
listening  to  the  vesper  anthems,  yet  Houston  Laird  is 
hardly  the  man  to  spend  his  time  mooning  about  moun 
tains  or  churches.  Yet  what  could  that  priggish  bigot 
Braddock  do  with  such  a  woman  ?" 

Isabel,  meantime,  quite  unconscious  of  any  element  of 
sublimity  in  her  akin  to  Nittany  or  church  music,  was 
yet  aware  of  the  storm  in  the  air,  and  wondered  what 
had  put  their  guest  in  such  ill-humour,  while  the  colonel 
carved  the  tough  meat  with  chagrin.  The  game  supper? 
he  would  give  to  Laird  and  the  other  boys  when — that  is, 
if  he  took  the  office  ! 

"There  can  be  no  doubt,"  said  Laird  suddenly — "yes, 
coffee  if  you  please — no  doubt,  whatever,  that  American 


136  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

society  is  corrupted  to  the  very  root  by  this  greed  for 
money.  Yes,  to  the  very  root,  sir  !  Chicanery  and  bribery 
in  the  very  highest  places,  truckling  and  toadyism  in  the 
lowest,  and,  all  to  make  a  little  more  show  than  our 
neighbour.  What  else  makes  our  men  bilious  dyspeptics 
and  the  women  nervous  wrecks  at  middle  age  ?  Yes, 
Colonel,  you,  passing  your  life  in  a  farm  in  Virginia  or 
experimenting  here,  have  no  idea  of  the  rottenness  of  our 
social  life.  Isabel  was  right,  sir  !  Her  fine  instinct  showed 
it  to  her.  The  boy  is  trained  from  his  cradle  to  make 
money,  and  the  girl  to  marry  a  rich  husband.  It's  all 

push,  climb,  heat,  and  struggle  from  the  beginning  to 

I  swear,  I'm  tired  of  it,  Latimer  ! " 

He  spoke  with  vehemence,  stirring  his  cup  hurriedly, 
and  keeping  his  eyes  down.  Bell  was  silent,  turning  care 
fully  away  from  him  with  a  queer  feeling  of  having  sur 
prised  him  undressed.  "  There's  something  in  the  air 
here/'  trying  to  recover  himself  with  an  uneasy  laugh, 
"that  forces  these  things  home  on  me.  I  always  look 
down  from  this  place  on  that  gang  of  jobbers  and  gam 
blers  at  Harrisburgh,  and  think  what  cursed  folly  it  all 
is — drive  and  cheat  and  steal  for  a  handful  of  greenbacks 
more  or  less,  and  in  a  year  or  two — lie  down  in  a  wooden 
box  in  a  cut  in  the  clay,  and  there's  the  end  ! " 

Isabel  met  his  blue  eyes  fixed  on  her.  Their  rims  were 
red,  they  were  altogether  off  guard. 

"Why  do  you  tempt  father  down  into  the  crowd  then  ?  " 
she  said  gently. 

Some  far-off  thought  crept  into  his  eyes,  shrewd,  wary, 
humourous.  "Don't  take  me  at  disadvantage,  Miss 
Latimer/'  quickly,. with  a  total  change  of  tone.  "Your 
father  is  incorruptible.  I  mean  to  serve  him  ;  I  mean 
that,  honestly.  Besides,  what  would  you  have  him  do  ? 
His  experiments  here  are  stopped." 

"My  father,"  earnestly,  "is  a  great  inventor,  Mr. 
Laird.  He  has  something  better  to  do  than  to  make 


JOHN  AOTROSS.  137 

money.  You  have  certainly  heard  of  his  new  hygro 
meter?" 

"Yes,"  respectfully.   "What  became  of  that,  Latimer  ?  " 

"  Some  fellow  in  Boston  was  beforehand  with  me,  I 
found  when  I  went  to  patent  it." 

"And  the  machine  for  surgeons  to  use,  and  the 
plough,  and  the  attachment  to  sewing  machines  ? "  she 
held  the  cream-jug  suspended,  speaking  so  fast  as  to  be 
scarcely  intelligible. 

"  Bell  only  finds  speech  when  defending  me,"  said  her 
father  laughing.  "Every  one  of  those  were  really  great 
inventions,  Laird.  But  the  difficulty  was  they  were  too 
intricate:  the  attachments  cost  double  the  price  of  the 
original  machines." 

"  There  is  no  reason  why  you  should  not  go  on  invent 
ing  until  you  achieve  something  of  use,"  with  rising 
colour.  "When  my  father,"  turning  to  Laird,  "is  in  the 
army,  or  when  he  is  experimenting,  I  go  to  bed  every 
night,  thinking  how  he  is  fighting  or  working  for  others. 
Never  for  himself.  Some  day  the  world  will  know  what  he 
is.  I  have  known  it  always.  I  can  not  make  you  under 
stand,"  stammering.  "But  he  is  the  only  great  man  I 
have  known.  I  don't  mind  hunger  or  cold  as  long  as 
there  is  a  chance  for  him  to  do  his  work.  But  I  will  not 
have  him  go  down  to  grub  for  money  with  the  rest." 
She  put  both  her  hands  suddenly  on  her  father's  shoulder, 
and  looking  at  Laird,  tried  to  smile,  but  her  chin  trem 
bled,  and  the  water  stood  in  her  eyes. 

"I  only  hope,"  said  Laird  lightly,  making  a  sudden 
flank  movement  of  argument,  "that  he  maybe  as  suc 
cessful  as  the  rest  who  have  come  from  Nittany.  Andross 
is  one  of  the  luckiest,  gayest  fellows  about  town.  What 
ever  he  touches  turns  to  gold.  The  judge,  too,  is  on  the 
high  road  to  fortune ;  and  as  to  Braddock,  if  he  keeps  to 
legitimate  business,"  significantly,  "I  have  no  doubt  of 
his  success." 


138  JOHN  ANDROSS. 

"What  do  you  mean  by  legitimate  business,  Laird  ?" 
said  the  colonel,  while  Isabel  sat  down  quietly. 

"  Well,  Braddock  is,  I  fancy,  in  haste  to  be  rich.  The 
fever,"  glancing  furtively  at  Isabel,  "which  Miss  Lati- 
mer  dreads,  has  attacked  him  violently;  it  was  in  the 
blood,  you  know  :  Scotch-Irish. " 

"  I  never  knew  any  man,"  she  said  composedly,  "  who 
was  less  disposed  to  overrate  money  than  Dr.  Braddock." 

"  I  really  ought  not  to  differ  with  you,  for  I  don't 
know  the  young  man,"  carelessly.  "I  offered  for  his 
mother's  sake  to  be  of  use  to  him  when  he  came  up  to 
town  last  July.  He  had  saved  some  money,  a  mere  pit 
tance,  but  his  all,  and  I  proposed  one  or  two  safe  and 

profitable  investments "  He  paused,  noticing  the 

eagerness  with  which  she  followed  him.  It  was  part  of 
Bell's  dulness  to  have  no  curiosity,  but  it  was  not  in  wo 
man's  nature  to  refuse  to  listen  now.  She  had  known 
how  every  dollar  of  this  pittance,  which  seemed  to  her 
so  large,  had  been  saved.  How  many  hundred  times 
had  they  consulted  over  its  investment !  Secretly  Bell 
would  have  been  willing  to  marry  long  ago  without  a 
penny,  and  to  trust  in  the  Lord ;  but  Braddock  had  not 
been  so  minded.  When  the  seven  thousand  were  secure, 
however,  he  thought  the  future  was  safe.  He  had  gone 
from  her  full  of  hope,  meaning,  as  she  knew,  to  put  the 
money  in  Laird's  hands  for  investment ;  the  Nevada 
mines,  or  National  Transit  Stock,  as  everybody  knew, 
were  sure  ground  on  which  to  grow  dollars  out  of  pennies. 
After  he  came  back  he  never  had  once  named  the  money 
to  her ;  he  had  not,  in  the  anxiety  to  conceal  the  real 
disposition  he  had  made  of  it,  even  told  her  the  different 
opinion  he  had  formed  of  Laird  on  reaching  town.  She 
only  knew  that  the  money  was  not  to  be  the  basis  of  their 
future ;  that  her  lover  had  cooled  and  hesitated,  and 
finally  postponed  the  marriage  on  the  plea  of  want  of 
funds.  She  sat  motionless  as  Laird  went  on. 


JOHST  ANDROSS.  139 

"I  proposed  these  investments,  but  he  would  have 
nothing  to  do  with  them  ;  carried  his  money  off  to  turn 
over  according  to  his  own  judgment.  I  hope  it  was  a  wise 
judgment,  I  am  sure.  But  there  are  so  many  sharpers 
about  town  ready  to  seize  on  a  credulous  fellow  like 
Braddock,  and  so  many  ways  of  risking  money " 

"  Do  you  mean  dishonest  ways  ? "  said  Isabel,  from 
the  lofty  height  of  her  lover's  innocence. 

"Well — not  precisely.  Young  ladies  hardly  under 
stand  financial  operations  clearly  enough  to  comprehend 
technicalities.  Without  being  gambling,  strictly  so  called, 
there  are  certain  ways  of  making  money  which  are  not 
clean,  while  legitimate  brokerage  is  clean.  I  can  scarcely 
explain  it  to  you  without " 

"  It  is  not  necessary.  Dr.  Braddock  never  invested  in 
any  dishonourable  undertaking  knowingly.  And  he  is 
not  at  all  <  a  credulous  person/  either,"  tartly. 

"  I  am  very  glad  to  hear  you  speak  so  positively  of  the 
young  man,  Miss  Latimer.  Your  judgment  is,  of  course, 
unbiassed,"  heartily.  "For  his  mother's  sake,  I  should 
be  sorry  that  he  lost  his  little  savings." 

An  awkward  silence  followed.  "Laird,"  said  the 
colonel,  leaning  over  the  table  anxiously  after  taking 
council  with  himself,  "the  truth  is  that  I  wished- to 
speak  to  you  about  this  very  matter.  Braddock  is  a 
friend  of  ours.  There  is  a  reason  why  I  am  interested 
about  his  conduct  in  regard  to  that  money.  A  business 
reason,  you  see?"  feeling  himself  a  very  Talleyrand  of 
diplomacy.  "  But  there  have  been  very  unpleasant  whis 
pers  about  that  affair  of  the  money  in  the  neighbourhood. 
People  in  a  sparsely  settled  place  know  each  others'  busi 
ness,  and  are  the  very  deuce  to  gossip.  Braddock  took 
the  money  away,  and  came  home  without  it ;  began  to 
save  and  stint  himself  in  every  way.  There  was  talk  of 
his  having  been  drawn  into  a  gambling-house,  or  to  a 
but  the  lad  is  a  professor  of  religion.  I 


140  JOHX   ANDROSS. 

could  not  credit  that.  But  now  that  you  speak  of  those 
other  modes " 

"Papa,"  said  Bell,  in  an  unnecessarily  firm  voice, 
"You  may  be  sure  that  whatever  disposition  Doctor 
Braddock  has  made  of  his  money  was  the  very  most  hon 
est  and  wisest  disposition  that  could  be  made." 

"That  settles  the  question,  Latimer."  Mr.  Laird 
forced  a  laugh. 

"  Not  to  my  mind,"  eagerly  rubbing  both  hands  along 
his  thin  knees.  "Heaven  knows  I  have  no  desire  to 
meddle  in  his  or  any  man's  business  affairs.  But  this 
concerns — concerns  a  friend  of  mine,  a  woman  whose 

future  depends  on  him.  Her  happiness "  he  glanced 

at  Bell,  wishing  that  she  should  understand,  and  quite 
sure  that  Laird  would  never  penetrate  the  inscrutable 
mystery  in  which  he  wrapped  his  meaning. 

"Of  course,"  said  Laird  cheerfully,  "he  gave  an  ac 
count  of  his  disposal  of  the  money  to  anybody  who  had  a 
right  to  such  an  account.  Neither  you  nor  I  have  that, 
Colonel.  The  natural  supposition  for  us  outsiders,  when 
a  young  fellow  from  the  country  lets  six  or  seven  thou 
sand  slip  from  him  in  town,  and  makes  no  explanation 
about  it,  is  that  he  has  lost  it  in  some  disgraceful  way. 
Miss  Latimer  must  not  think  us  harsh." 

"That  rule  would  not  apply  in  this  case,"  interposed 
Isabel  calmly.  "It  would  be  simply  impossible  for  Clay 
Braddock  to  be  concerned  in  anything  disgraceful." 

She  stopped,  swallowing  once  or  twice.     Mr.   Laird 

1  paused,  his  cup  in  his  hand,  looking  at  her  in  astonish- 

I  ment.    He  had  always  thought  her  a  plain  woman  before. 

Something  about  her  at  the  moment  startled  her  father 

!  also.     His  wife  had  possessed  a  rare  beauty  which  had 

made  her  everywhere  a  woman  of  mark,  and  it  had  often 

vexed  him  that  her  daughter  had  not  one  of  her  features, 

and  passed  unnoticed  through  life.  But  now .  It 

occurred  to  him  also  suddenly  to  think  what  the  child 


JOHN   ANDROSS.  141 

must  have  suffered  during  her  lover's  long  neglect  and 
silence,  about  this  same  cursed  money  on  which  their 
future  hinged.  If  he  could  but  cure  her  of  her  love  for 
the  fellow  ! 

"It  looks  badly,"  he  blurted  out.  "And  there  is 
more  than  that  which  looks  badly.  Nobody  knows  it 
but  Maddox ;  God  forbid  it  should  be  whispered  about — 
but  I  can  tell  you  two.  Braddock's  books  did  not  turn 
out  right — the  judge  detected  altered  numbers,  for  years 
back.  He  said  nothing  to  Braddock,  because  he  could 
not  find  where  the  money  was  missing  exactly ;  but  the 
numbers  were  undoubtedly  altered " 

"  This  is  too  much  !"  rising.  "  Mr.  Laird,  you  do  not 
know  Dr.  Braddock.  /  assure  you  it  is  all  false.  I  won 
der  my  father  allowed  Judge  Maddox  to  hint  such  a 
thing  to  him  !  Clay  never  wronged  a  man  of  a  penny." 

"You  have  proof  of  that,  of  course,  Miss  Latimer." 

( '  Proof  ?  why,  I  know  it  is  not  true.  That  is  enough," 
haughtily.  "And  as  for  any  woman,  papa,  whose  future 
is  in  his  hands — you  need  have  no  fear  for  her  whatever. 
Her  future  is  safe.  Perfectly  safe." 

She  walked  across  the  room,  while  the  two  men,  not 
exchanging  a  glance,  watched  her  as  if  mesmerized. 

Laird  drew  a  long  breath.  "  To  think,"  his  thoughts 
ran,  "that  pride  in  such  a  respectable  stick  as  that  Brad- 
dock  could  lift  her  out  of  herself  into  that  wonderful 
woman.  It's  just  the  difference  between  a  scrawny  flan 
nelled  race-horse  in  its  stable,  and  the  creature  as  it 
bounds  into  the  goal,  full  of  fire  and  beauty  from  head  to 
foot.  If  she  had  loved  a  man,  now — a  man."  His  blood 
was  strangely  heated,  but  he  helped  himself  to  bread, 
composedly  choosing  a  soft  piece. 

She  took  up  her  fur  mantle,  and  began  to  hurriedly 
button  it  about  her.  Her  father  went  to  her.  "Bell, 
where  are  you  going?" 

"I — I  don't  know,  papa.     If  I  could  tell  him" — with 


142  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

a  bewildered  IOOJK  around  her,  the  tears  coining  slowly  up 
to  her  eyes. 

"  It's  not  like  you  to  be  nervous,  child.  Your  hands 
are  as  cold — come  to  the  fire."  He  began  to  take  off  the 
mantle ;  but  in  a  minute  she  was  herself  again. 

"I  am  chilly;  I  think  I'll  keep  it  on,"  going  back  to 
her  chair.  "I  beg  your  pardon,  Mr.  Laird.  Dr.  Brad- 
dock  is  a  friend  of  ours,  and " 

"  There  are  no  half-way  measures  in  your  friendship  ! 
I  only  wish  I  had  so  loyal  an  ally.  There  must  be  a  very 
genuine  worth  in  that  young  fellow,"  he  added  with 
heartiness,  "to  gain  such  genuine  friends  as  he  has  had 
the  luck  to  make  here  and  in  town." 

"I  did  not  know  that  he  had  any  friends  in  town," 
said  Isabel  quickly,  "or  even  acquaintances." 

"Why,  you  would  not  have  the  boy  turn  hermit, 
Bell  ?"  her  father  interposed  impatiently. 

"  He  told  me  that  his  time  was  fully  occupied  in  his 
work  and  study,"  she  said. 

Oth  came  in  to  remove  the  supper  dishes.  At  Laird's 
proposal  they  sat  still  about  the  roaring  fire  of  pine  logs. 

"I  have  taken  a  fancy  to  this  room,"  he  said  lazily; 
"to  the  broad  hearth  and  the  red  curtains,  and  the 
white  hills  without,  and  the  deer's  heads  on  the  wall,  and 
the  bear's  skin  under  foot." 

The  truth  was,  he  did  not  wish  to  disturb  Isabel ;  he 
wanted  to  watch  her  as  she  sat,  her  head  bent  forward 
from  the  fur,  looking  moodily  in  the  fire,  her  hands 
folded  idly  in  her  lap. 

"  These  suspicions  of  Braddock  are  having  their  effect 
'on  her,"  whispered  the  colonel,  quite  forgetting  that  he 
was  keeping  Bell's  secret  from  Laird.  "It's  time  she 
demanded  an  explanation  from  him,  as  Maddox  said. 
The  whole  business  has  an  ugly  look.  Clay  ought  to  set 
it  right,  sir." 

"  She  would  not  believe  if  she  saw  him  pick  Maddox's 


JOHK   ANDROSS.  143 

pocket.  It  would  only  be  a  pretext  for  exalting  him  into 
a  more  honest  hero/'  laughed  Laird.  "  Tut,  tut.  You 
don't  know  women,  Latimer." 

Oth  piled  up  fresh  logs  and  swept  the  hearth ;  the  two 
men  plunged  into  a  discussion  of  the  internal  revenue 
tax,  but  still  Miss  Latimer's  gray  eyes  were  fixed  immov 
ably  on  the  shifting  blaze. 

"Now,  if  it  is  the  intention  of  the  government  to  wipe 
out  the  debt "  said  the  colonel,  pointing  his  argu 
ment  off  with  his  forefinger  on  his  scuffed  trousers. 

"  How  many  evenings  in  the  week  does  he  give  to  his 
friends,  as  you  call  them?"  she  said,  looking  up  sud 
denly  at  Laird. 

"Who  the  deuce ?"  cried  the  colonel. 

"Very  nearly  all,  I  judge,"  said  Laird  readily.  "I 
meet  him  at  Judge  Maddox's  every  time  I  drop  in  there, 
and  I  see  him  at  concerts,  in  opera  boxes,  and  so  on,  con 
stantly." 

"  Miss  Maddox's  opera  box  ?" 

"Yes,  I  believe  so.  That  is — well,  I  have  seen  him 
with  them  twice  this  winter.  What  a  charming  creature 
that  little  girl  is,  Latimer,  by  the  way  ?" 

"Yes,  very  pretty.  Not  regular  enough  features  to 
please  me,  however,"  absently,  and  glancing  at  Isabel, 
whom  he  felt,  with  a  dog-like  sort  of  instinct,  was  in 
fresh  trouble  of  some  kind. 

"Anna  Maddox's  face  has  not  a  fault !"  she  said  ener 
getically.  "I  am  sure,  papa,  you  never  saw  such  exqui 
site  form  and  colour." 

"  Tut,  tut.  Nothing  of  the  kind.  The  child  is  very 
pleasing,  to  be  sure.  The  most  innocent,  ingenuous  lit 
tle  creature " 

Mr.  Laird  laughed. 

"  On  the  contrary !  I  don't  know  a  shrewder  little 
practitioner  in  society." 

"You  are  perfectly  right,  Mr.    Laird,"  said  Isabel, 


144  JOHN   AKDROSS. 

rising  hastily.  "She  is  full  of  art.  I  never  knew  any 
body  who  was  more  persistent  in  laying  her  plans,  o* 
showed  more  skilful  duplicity  in  carrying  them  out." 

"Why,  Bell,  you  certainly  used  to  laugh  at  Anna  as  a 
silly  child." 

"  Then  I  was  very  much  mistaken.  She  has  had  sense 
enough  to  choose  the  man  best  worth  any  woman's  choice 
for  her  husband,  and  she  has  succeeded  in  winning  him, 
that  is  plain.  Oh,  that  is  quite  plain  ! " 

The  face  within  the  dark  fur  had  suddenly  lost  its 
colour,  and  showed  how  thin  and  worn  it  had  grown  in 
the  last  few  months. 

"It  is  intolerably  hot  in  this  room  !"  pushing  off  the 
mantled  "I  must  go  out  for  some  fresh  air.  I'll  see  if 
Oth  has — has  put  Eosy  in  her  stall." 

"  Rosy  !  What  the  deuce  has  she  to  do  with  the  cow  ? 
God  bless  me !  the  ways  of  women ! "  ejaculated  the 
colonel,  hurrying  after  her,  while  Laird,  thrusting  his 
hands  in  his  pockets  and  stretching  out  his  feet  on  the 
fender,  laughed. 

Her  father  found  her  pacing  up  and  down  the  back 
porch,  only  prevented  from  pacing  in  the  yard  by  the 
snow,  which  was  up  to  her  knees. 

"  Bell ! "  trying  to  part  her  hands,  shut  on  each  other. 

"Yes,  papa." 

"This  is  unlike  you.  This  is  abject  folly.  Doctor 
Braddock " 

"Don't  name  him  to  me!  Never  again.  That  he 
could  be  so  weak — as  to  be  deceived  by  that — that  miser 
able  little  creature !  And  then  to  deceive  me !  Oh,  to 
deceive  me ! " 

"Bell,  you  have  no  warrant  for  even  accusing  the  man. 
Be  reasonable.  You  have  heard  nothing  except  that  he 
visits  sometimes  at  the  judge's,  and  was  twice  in  their 
box  at  the  opera.  Could  anything  be  more  natural  ?  And 
you  go  off  at  a  tangent,  and  believe  him  in  love  with  her." 


JOHIf   AKDROSS.  145 

"I  believe  more  than  that/'  with  solemn  calmness. 
"I  believe  that  I  have  now  the  key  to  the  whole  mystery 
—he  means  to  marry  her.  He  meant  it  from  the  night 
she  tricked  him  into  wandering  through  the  mountains, 
pretending  she  was  searching  for  Andross.  He  has  in 
vested  the  money  with  a  view  to  marrying  her.  Why 
should  he  not  tell  me  what  he  had  done  with  it  else? 

It's  just  as  clear .     He  went  to  town  to  please  her 

followed  her . " 

"  Because  the  Works  stopped  and  left  him  without  a 
dollar,  Bell.  Be  just,  child.  You  are  not  lacking  in 
common-sense. " 

"  Papa,  my  instinct  told  me  all  this  long  ago.  It  is 
all  perfectly  plain  to  me.  He  is  married,  very  likely,  by 
this  time.  I  knew  by  instinct,  the  very  day  her  cunning- 
eyes  turned  on  him  and  her  wiles  began  to  tell  on  him.'7 

< '  Oh  !  confound  instinct ! "  muttered  the  colonel.  But 
Isabel's  hands  were  beginning  to  feel  cold  and  limp,  and 
her  forehead  like  fire  ;  in  spite  of  her  low  voice  and  swift 
steps  he  felt  that  she  very  likely  would  fall  the  next 
minute  like  a  rag  in  his  hands.  "  And  what  am  I  to  do 
with  her  then?"  said  the  bewildered  and  imbecile  co 
lonel.  She  had  always  been  like  a  son  to  him,  a  ready 
staff  on  which  to  support  his  vagaries  or  griefs  or  rheu 
matism,  and  now  at  this  first  touch  of  idiotic  jealousy 
she  crumbled  as  it  were  into  a  senseless,  helpless  dead 
weight  on  his  hands. 

"Bell,  dear,  won't  you  at  least  come  to  your  room? 
You'll  certainly  have  the  influenza  again.  And  as  for 
poor  Olay- 

"If  you  think,"  with  slow  emphasis,  "that  I  care 
about  Clay,  or  that  his  going  will  cost  me  a  single  tear, 
you  are  mistaken,  papa.  If  he  could  be  beguiled  by  such 
a  painted,  shallow  actress  as  Anna " 

"I  thought,"  slyly,  "you  considered  her  beauty  with 
out  a  flaw?" 


146  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

"Ah  !  you  are  laughing  at  me  ?"  She  stopped,  look 
ing  up  at  him ;  her  wrists  which  he  caught  trembled,  the 
pulse  was  gone ;  she  began  to  sob  in  a  noiseless,  stifled 
way.  X 

"Laugh  at  you  !  God  help  you,  my  darling,  no,"  cried 
the  colonel,  picking  her  up  in  his  arms  like  a  baby. 
"But  you're  such  a  fool!  Come  to  bed  directly."  He 
pushed  open  the  door  of  her  room,  and  laying  her  in  a 
great  easy  chair  began  to  build  up  the  fire,  blowing  it 
vigorously.  "  They're  all  alike — every  woman  of  them  !" 
he  muttered  half  aloud.  "She'd  love  him  all  the  better 
if  he'd  committed  burglary,  but  let  him  speak  civilly  to  a 
pretty  girl  and  there  is  no  forgiveness  for  him.  There," 
glancing  over  his  shoulder,  "she's  crying  comfortably, 
thank  heaven  !  It'll  all  come  right  now." 

The  colonel  wisely  left  Isabel  to  her  tears.  When  he 
was  going  to  bed  a  tall  white-robed  figure  beckoned  him 
to  her  room  door. 

"Papa,  I've  been  considering  Mr.  Laird's  proposal, 
and  I  think  we  had  better  accept  it.  There's  no  need 
that  we  should  worship  Mammon,  if  we  do  live  in  town." 

"No,"  looking  at  her  dubiously.  "I  thought  we 
would  take  a  month  or  two  to  talk  it  over.  When  would 
you  wish  to  go,  Bell  ?  " 

"To-morrow,  papa." 

"Oh!"  said  the  colonel,  and  in  that  exclamation 
buried  both  his  difficulties  and  amazement. 

Bell  went  back  to  the  clear  fire,  and  the  bear's  skin  in 
front,  on  which  she  had  been  sitting,  and  the  low  stool 
set  on  it,  with  the  lamp,  and  her  little  old  Testament 
open  beside  it.  She  had  read  it  every  day  since  she  was 
a  child,  but  so  cheerful  had  been  her  life  that  this  was 
the  first  time  that  its  pages  were  wet  with  tears.  Perhaps 
because  she  had  had  no  mother,  this  Elder  Brother  of 
hers  was  more  real  and  nearer  to  her  than  to  other  people. 


JOHN"  AKDROSS.  147 

She  could  not  read  to-night,  though  she  tried.  'No  com 
mon-sense,  no  argument  would  have  comforted  her.  But 
when  she  pushed  away  the  lamp,  and  kneeling  down  laid 
her  head  on  the  stool,  and  cried  without  any  words,  she 
knew  that  He  understood  all  of  her  story ;  how  dear  this 
old  home  was,  and  how  innocent ;  what  the  man  was  to 
her  who  had  loved  her  there,  and  how  she  had  lost  him. 

He  knew. 

When  she  rose  at  last  to  get  into  bed  it  was  with  the 
quiet,  almost  happy,  face  of  a  child  who  has  sobbed  itself 
to  sleep  on  its  mother's  bosom.  She  laid  her  cheek  on 
her  hand  on  the  pillow,  thinking  with  a  smile  that  He 
would  bring  it  all  right,  and  that  this  world  was  a  happy 
one  after  all,  and  full  of  good,  friendly  people.  ' '  Ex 
cepting  one,"  she  murmured,  as  she  closed  her  eyes. 
"Artful  little  creature!" 


CHAPTER    XV. 

.  LAIRD  passed  most  of  that  winter  in  New 
York,  because,  as  he  said,  he  must  supervise  the 
business  of  the  National  Transit  Company  in  person,  but 
in  reality,  to  keep  the  Whiskey  Ring  at  a  distance  from 
which  none  of  the  ill-odour  of  their  doings  could  cling  to 
his  garments.  The  best  chess-players  are  those  who  do 
not  need  to  see  the  board. 

One  evening  in  March  he  dropped  in  as  usual  to  the 
Century  Club,  which  gave  a  reception  that  night  to  a 
distinguished  English  poet  who  had  just  arrived.  Mr. 
Laird  carefully  avoided  the  public  apartments,  however, 
and  hurried  to  a  window  where,  half -hidden  by  the  lace 
curtains,  a  small,  fair-haired  young  man  was  alternately 
looking  out  at  the  moon  and  down  at  his  dainty  feet. 


148  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

On  every  Saturday  evening  he  found  this  same  fair- 
haired  little  man  waiting  for  him  at  the  same  window. 
"  Ah,  Willitts,  you  are  here  ?"  drawing  up  a  chair. 
"Yes,   I've  been  here  for  an   hour,"   balancing   his 
'*'  eye-glass  on  his  nose.     "  Perrott  came  over  from  Phil 
adelphia  with  me,  and  we've  been  surveying  the  crowd. 
Some  most  remarkable  faces  there,  sir,"  waving  his  little 
ringed  hand  to  the  mob  of  men  who,  in  full  evening 
dress,  were  gathered  about  the  stranger.     "  But  I  doubt 
if  the  .poet  gets  a  fair  glimpse  of  them  through  the  cigar 
smoke.     Tell  him  this  is  an  aesthetic  club,  and  then 
stifle  him  in  their  own  parlour  with  the  smell  of  tobacco 
and  whiskey!    It  is  simply  indecent,  nasty,  as  I  tell 
Efcrrott." 

"  If  you  had  not  come  I  should  have  run  over  on  the 
12:20  train,"  said  Laird  heavily.  There  was  an  intent- 
ness  in  his  manner,  a  rigidity  in*  his  solid  features,  which 
showed  a  marked  departure  from  his  usual  easy  indolent 
bearing  when  discussing  business.  "  No  additional  news 
which  could  not  be  trusted  to  the  wires,  Willitts  ?  " 

"No,"  carelessly  dropping  his  glass.  "  Good  type  of 
John  Bull,  that  fellow  yonder— of  the  lean,  smug  kind  ! 
No,  nothing  tangible.  But  a  certain  uneasiness  and  a 
good  deal  of  talk  about  a  tornado  coming,  nobody  knows 
from  whence.  Pity  somebody  had  not  a  nose  for  a  finan 
cial  crisis,  as  Jack  Andross  has  for  a  thunder  gust.  That 
fellow  scents  it  days  beforehand  !  It  is  remarkable  to 
find  such  magnetic  sensibility  in  a  healthy,  stout  man." 

"I  am  not  particularly  interested  in  Mr.  Andross  as  a 
barometer,"  drily.  "  Has  he  attended  to  that  matter  at 
Harrisburgh-?" 

"Well,  no,"  beginning  to  take  off  his  gloves.  '  The 
gentlemen  down  on  Franklin  street— your^  partners," 
hesitating. 

"Very  well,  go  on." 

"They  bade  me  tell  you  that  the  o-risis  is  too  imminent 


JOHX   AKDROSS.  149 

to  risk  anything.     At  least  three  votes  are  needed  in  ,the 
House  to  pass  the  bill "  *• 

"I  know  all  that  !  I  told  you  last  week  that  those 
votes  could  be  bought  as  easily  as  any  others.  It  is  only 
a  question  of  price.  I  told  you  to  charge  Andross  not  to 
spare  expense.  It's  no  time  for  haggling  !"  He  got  up» 
suddenly,  throwing  up  the  window  ;  the  March  windx 
wet  with  sleet,  rushed  in,  flapping  the  curtains. 

^Ugh  !  Allow  me,"  gently,  closing  it.  "  You  forgot 
the  hail.  The  difficulty,"  taking  the  dampened  tea-rose 
from  his  coat,  "is  not  with  the  legislators,  but  Andross. 
The  gentlemen  think  it  advisable  to  ask  somebody  else  to 
negotiate  the  matter.  Jack  has  some  scruples,  it  ap 
pears.  Heaven  knows  what  they  are,"  laughing.  "  Those 
fellows  are  for  sale,  and  why  not  buy  them  as  you  would 
a  pound  of  sugar  ?  " 

"No  one   can  approach  them   so  well  as  Andross," 

thoughtfully.     "I  don't  wish  to  compel  him But 

we  shall  need  his  vote  also. " 

"  Oh  !  That,  of  course,  will  be  a  debt  of  friendship. 
Jack  has  done  nothing  for  us  since  you  gave  him  his  seat 
in  the  Senate.  No  price  to  pay  there." 

Mr.  Laird  was  silent.  "Andross  is  a  working  member 
of  the  Senate,  I  hear  ?  "  he  said  presently. 

"Yes,"  laughing.  "He  has  laid  the  axe  to  the  roof 
of  the  tree  with  a  vengeance.  No  bill  passes  unques 
tioned,  Perrott  tells  me.  No  snakes  creep  in  with  them 
this  session.  Some  of  the  men  think  Andross  is  another 
name  for  honesty  ;  and  some,  that  he  is  only  making  a 
reputation  to  command  a  higher  price  presently  ! " 

"  He  is  quite  sincere."  There  was  a  marked  respect  in 
his  tone. 

"  Oh  !  yes.  I've  no  doubt  of  it.  I'd  trust  Jack's  honour 
as  I  would  my  own.  Now,  if  he  makes  any  difficulty,  I 
think  I  could  go  down  and  manipulate  those  fellows, 
Mr.  Laird  ?" 


150  JOH^   A^DROSS. 


"No,  Ned.  They  are  gentlemen  and  statesmen  —  for 
their  constituencies.  Transactions  with  them  must  be 
strictly  under  cover.  It  would  not  do  to  have  you  buzzing 
too  much  about  Harrisburgh.  You'd  tell  your  errand 
everywhere,  like  a  mosquito." 

"All  right,"  goodhumouredly.  "But  I  think  you've 
overrated  Andross's  possible  usefulness  to  you.  A  man  of 
business  for  the  company  he  will  never  be,  that's  certain." 

"  No.  But  there's  something  about  Jack  that  attracts 
people,  and  that's  v.hat  I  want.  To  me  he  has  always 
seemed  a  weak,  vacillating  fellow,  but  his  influence  over 
the  poorer  classes  is  simply  incalculable.  No  man  could 
serve  me  better  if  he  chose.  But  to  make  him  choose  —  " 

Ned  Willitts  twisted  the  waxed  ends  of  his  fair  mus 
tache  meditatively,  bending  his  little  brain  to  the  solving 
of  this  problem.  At  home  Ned  was  a  harmless,  kindly, 
light-hearted  fellow,  ready  to  escort  his  sisters  to  ball  or 
opera,  and  a  famous  referee  in  all  matters'  of  dancing  or 
ball  etiquette  ;  in  the  office  he  had  been  taught  since  he 
could  speak  that  man's  duty  was  to  make  money  —  to 
"get  on."  In  his  neat  little  body,  from  feather  head  to 
feather  heels,  there  was  no  troublesome  monitor  to  ask 
meddling  questions  as  to  the  "how." 

"It  would  not  be  easy  to  reach  Andross  through  his 
pocket,"  he  said.  "  He  has  gone  into  a  set  who  are  so 
cursedly  independent  as  to  pretend  to  have  souls  above 
greenbacks  ;  a  lot  of  journalists,  actors,  and  the  like  ; 
very  nice  fellows  really,  but  full  of  whims.  I  don't  see 
but  that  they  charge  full  value  for  their  wares,  though," 
laughing. 

"What  women  does  he  visit  ?" 

"  Oh  !  a  dozen.  He's  a  social  fellow,  you  know.  But 
he's  a  perfect  slave  to  that  little  girl  of  Maddox's.  He 
does  not  care  who  sees  that." 

"And  she  will  rate  herself  at  a  high  figure  when  it 
comes  to  marriage." 


JOHK  AtfDKOSS.  151 

"Very  possibly;  she's  not  a  fool.  She's  worth  it. 
But  social  position  is  of  more  weight  with  her  than 
money ;  though  /  should  not  be  at  all  surprised-  she'd 
make  a  love-match  some  of  these  days  without  either. 
She's  an  affectionate  little  thing." 

"You  seem  to  be  quite  behind  the  scenes,  Ned." 

"Well,  yes.  It's  only  a  sisterly  sort  of  friendship,  but 
she  really  gives  me  more  of  her  confidence  than  anybody 
else."  The  sentence  ended  in  a  conscious  giggle.  "  Of 
course,"  he  resumed  gravely,  "she  depended  on  Andross 
a  good  deal  to  get  into  society.  She's  not  the  sort  of 
woman  to  wait  five  or  ten  years  of  probation  according  to 
Philadelphia  custom,  so  she  began  by  going  to  all  the 
public  balls,  meaning  to  pick  up  acquaintances  there, 
but  Andross  soon  stopped  that.  She  has  made  her  way 
into  a  certain  fashionable  set,  however,  to  his  great  dis 
gust.  Girls  who  lead  in  petticoats  and  bonnets,  and  who 
are  noticeably  decollete  at  the  opera.  Jack  is  fastidious 
about  women." 

"Yes.  She  will  lose  her  hold  on  him."  If  she  did, 
Laird  had  lost  his  hold  on  him. 

For  the  moment  a  rash  impulse  seized  him,  to  let  the 
gallant  young  fellow  go.  He  was  now  doing  an  honest 
man's  work  honestly ;  saving  money,  as  Laird  knew,  to 
replace  that  which  he  had  stolen ;  well-clothed,  light- 
hearted,  going  among  all  kinds  of  people,  carrying  a  cor 
dial  cheerfulness  with  him.  Everybody  who  met  him, 
like  Spellin  at  the  furnace,  had  the  feeling  that  Jack  was 
a  man  who  ought  to  have  his  laugh  out  in  the  world ; 
and  Laird  was  no  exception  to  the  rule. 

But  this  was  no  time  for  generous  impulses.  He  had 
educated  and  reared  this  man  to  serve  him,  and  now 
when  this  service  was  needed  to  stand  between  him  and 
ruin,  it  was  no  time  to  take  off  the  yoke. 

"I'll  come  over  on  Wednesday  and  see  how  matters 
stand." 


A>NTDltOSS. 


"You  mean  in  the  Transit  office  ?" 
'  No.     That  business  is  clear  enough/3  gloomily. 
"No  trouble  ahead,  really?"  nodding  and  smiling,  as 
he  stood  behind  Laird's  chair,  to  his  acquaintances  in  the 
crowd.     Curious  glances  were  thrown  now  and  then  at 
the  great  Railroad  King  and  his  jackal,  as  they  called 
Willitts,  but  they  were  not  disturbed.     Laird  made  no 
reply  to  the  last  question.     Certainly  the  business  was 
clear  to  him  !    Destruction  waited  for  him  on  every  side. 
He  remembered  the  old  story  of  the  prisoner  inclosed  in 
a  cell  with  movable  walls,  which  each  day  shut  in  upon 
him  with  inexorable  steadiness,  until  he  was  crushed  be 
tween  them.     There  was  no  chance  except  in  the  relief 
which  ought  to  come  from  the  profits  of  the  distilling 
business  in  Philadelphia,  and  if  the  bill  he  had  drawn  up 
did  not  pass  the  Pennsylvania  legislature,  these  profits 
would  be  diminished  one-half.     To  pass  that  bill,  An- 
dross's  help  was  necessary.     It  was  plain  enough  ! 
,      "  That  is  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hyde,  under  the  chandelier," 
said  Ned  over  his  head.     "No  better  brain  in  the  city 
than  that  fellow's.     He  was  coining  money  in  trade,  and 
threw  it  all  up  to  preach  to  drunken  sailors.     By  George, 
a  thing  like  that  makes  me  believe  in  religion  !    Ah, 
how'reye,  Whalley?"  winking  with  his  eyelids  and  mus- 
tachiod  upper  lip  at  once  ;   a  familiar  frisky  recognition 
for  which  he  was  known  on  Chestnut  street.     "That 
bald  man  was  Whalley,  leading  gentleman  at  Wallack's. 
By  the  way,"  lowering  his  voice  with  gravity,  "  that  bal 
let-girl  I  told  you  of,  and  for  whom  you  gave  me  carte 
blanche  f" 

"Yes." 

"Well,  it  was  worse  than  I  thought,  though  when  I 
heard  her  coughing  in  her  tulle  and  tights  in  the  cold 
flies,  it  was  so  horrible  it  fairly  sickened  me.  I  told  you 
about  that,  though.  I  found  she  lived  with  her  mother 
in  a  squalid  little  court—  Melon  alley.  They  had  nothing 


JOHK  ANDEOSS.  153 

but  what  the  girl  made — mother  was  crippled ;  the  girl 
actually  crept  out  of  bed,  night  after  night,  with  the  death 
sweats  on  her,  to  go  down  to  the  Varieties  to  dance. 
Perrott  went  with  me ;  we  had  them  both  taken  to  the 
hospital,  and  put  in  one  room  together.  All  comfortable. 
I  got  Eoberts — he's  a  clergyman,  a  friend  of  mine — to  go 
at  once  to  her ;  his  wife  took  jelly  and  things " 

"  You  ought  to  have  sent  fruit.  The  fever  is  intoler 
able  in  that  disease  sometimes." 

"Yes,  I  did.  So  did  Cram,  the  Varieties  manager; 
he's  not  a  bad  fellow,  Cram,  but  careless ;  he  ought  to 
have  seen  to  the  girl  before.  Oh  !  it  was  all  very  com 
fortable  for  them,  and  Roberts  told  me  she — she  felt 
ready  to  go  at  the  last.  Roberts  was  quite  satisfied  with 
her  state  of  mind,  sir.  The  poor  thing  only  lived  two 
weeks." 

"I  am  glad  you  attended  to  the  matter  so  well,  Ned," 
earnestly.  "Any  other  cases  of  real  want  that  come  in 
your  way,  remember  to  call  on  me." 

"Well.  I  generally  keep  out  of  sight  of  such  things, 
but  sometimes  they  force  themselves  on  one.  As  for 
street-beggars  they  never  get  a  rap  from  me." 

Mr.  Laird  drew  out  his  watch,  and  said  something 
about  supper,  when  Willitts  stopped  him. 

"Oh  !  I  meant  to  tell  you,  there  was  the  very  devil  to 
pay  in  the  distilleries." 

Laird's  dislike  was  so  great  to  being  openly  identified 
with  the  business,  that  he  affected  indifference,  even  to 
this  confidential  messenger ;  who  had  for  so  many  years 
been  a  go-between  for  the  actual  distillers  and  capitalists 
who  furnished  the  means,  that  he  had  dubbed  himself 
the  Mercury  of  the  whiskey-barrels  ;  and  who  knew  just 
how  deeply  he  was  involved  with  them. 

"Ah  !  what  is  the  trouble,  Willitts  ?" 

"An  old  officer  named  Latimer  is  the  trouble,  and  a 
tolerably  obstinate  one,  too.  He  is  the  new  collector,  and 


154  JOHN  ANDROSS. 

Wilkins  and  Brady  and  every  other  whiskey  manufacturer 
are  up  in  arms  against  him,  and  inquiring  how  the  deuce 
he  got  the  appointment.  But  he  has  it,  and  is  likely  to 
give  them  a  Waterloo  defeat  before  long,  if  all  accounts 
be  true." 

"I  gave  him  the  appointment,"  coldly. 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,  Mr.  Laird.    I  did  not  know  that." 

"Now  if  you  can  lay  aside  jesting  for  awhile,  perhaps 
you  will  explain  the  business  so  that  you  can  be  under 
stood.  I  gave  Colonel  Latimer  the  place,  because  he  was 
a  brave,  honourable  man ;  the  party  has  not  so  many  of 
that  kind  in  its  service  just  now  in  Philadelphia." 

Ned  shook  his  head,  listening  attentively. 

"Latimer"  (Mr.  Laird  continued  slowly,  choosing  his 
words)  "is  a  man  of  invincible  integrity.  No  bribe  can 
touch  him.  He  needed  the  place,  and  the  place  — 

— "Needed  him,"  supplying  the  pause.  "I  under 
stand.  One  such  man  will  strengthen  the  party  in  public 
estimation,  beyond  the  power  of  any  Citizen's  Keforni 
Party  to  damage  it.  A  cloak,  like  charity,  to  cover  a 
multitude  of  sins.  But,  confound  it,  the  old  fellow  need 
not  have  made  honesty  an  epidemic  !  It's  likely  to  prove 
more  fatal  to  the  distillers  than  the  small-pox." 

"  In  what  way  ?"  Laird  motioned  Willitts  to  come  in 
front  of  him,  and  leaning  both  hands  on  his  knees,  looked 
steadily — not  at  the  flippant  young  man,  but  at  the 
disaster  behind  him. 

"Well,  hitherto,  the  distillers  and  officers  have  been  as 
one  family — brethren  dwelling  together  in  unity.  Now— 
but  to  make  you  understand,  Mr.  Laird,  I  must  enter 
into  details,  which  hitherto  you  have  avoided." 

Laird  coughed  doubtfully.  "I  don't  like  them,  Ned," 
frankly.  "The  tricks  and  the  air  of  the  distilleries  are 
something  totally  alien  to  my  habits  or  nature.  When  I 
put  my  money  into  the  business,  it  was  with  the  proviso 
that  I  was  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  them.  Still  there 


JOHK  AXDROSS.  155 

seems  to  be  brain-work  needed  now,  and  I  must  under 
stand  the  situation.  I  have  no  doubt,  now,  that  there  is 
a  good  deal  of  deception  practised  on  the  government 
officers ! " 

"  I  am  afraid  there  is/'  dropping  his  eyes  to  hide  their 
twinkle.  "  In  a  dozen  ways.  If  there  were  not,  the  pro 
fits  would  be  small  indeed.  The  most  common  trick  is 
the  sending  out  twenty  barrels  of  liquor  for  one  on  which 
the  tax  is  paid.  The  detectives,  under  controul  of  the  col 
lector,  have  been  in  the  habit  of  taxing,  every  day,  only 
the  barrels  on  which  they  found  no  greenback  laid. 
Neither  of  your  distilleries  have  been  taxed  for  one-tenth 
of  the  article  they  sold. " 

"  I  did  not  know  how  the  thing  was  done.  But  the 
tax  is  really  too  exorbitant,"  said  Laird  calmly.  "My 
distillers,  I  believe,  are  reckoned  exceptionally  honest, 
because  they  pay  a  tax  at  all." 

"  They  will  have  a  chance  to  grow  in  grace  under  Co 
lonel  Latimer's  discipline,  then,"  laughing. 

"What  do  you  mean?  Nobody  attempted  to  bribe 
him?" 

"No.  But  his  man  Bowyer,  special  detective,  has 
taken  the  collection  of  the  tax  in  his  own  hands.  Wilkins 
himself  sent  him  in  last  night  to  count  the  barrels,  hav 
ing  left  on  each  one  a  crisp  new  note,  and  found  them 
untouched.  This  morning  Wilkins  was  arrested  on 
charge  of  illicit  distillation.  In  fact,  that  was  the  news  I 
came  over  to  give  you.  The  other  distillers  are  looking 
for  arrest  on  Monday  morning.  Their  houses  will  be 
closed  if  that  be  done." 

"  If  they  close  now  I  am  ruined,"  Laird  said,  so  calmly 
that  Ned  rejoined  lightly :  "Not  so  bad  as  that,  of  course. 
What  is  to  be  done  ?  Latimer  can  not  be  removed.  There 
has  been  too  much  gratulation  on  his  honesty.  To  be 
head  him,  on  any  pretext,  would  be  for  the  party  to  plead 
guilty,  in  so  many  words." 


156  JOHN   ANDKOSS. 

"  Tell  the  men  to  pay  the  tax  on  every  gallon.  We 
can  stand  it — for  a  week  or  two. " 

"  You  will  not  throw  Bowyer  off  his  guard  in  that 
way.  The  fellow  has  the  eye  of  a  lynx.  And  he  really 
seems  to  do  his  duty  for  the  duty's  sake.  A  dull  kind  of 
fellow,  I  suspect,  with  no  idea  of  making  his  way  in  the 
world.  In  case  he  is  as  wide-awake  as  ever,  after  this 
spasm  of  honesty  in  the  distillers,  what  are  they  to  do  ?" 

Mr.  Laird  got  up  and  walked  impatiently  down  the 
room.  Coming  back  he  beckoned  Willitts.  "It  is 
quite  time  for  supper,"  he  said,  as  though  he  had  forgot 
ten  the  subject  altogether.  It  was  not  until,  with  his 
napkin  spread  over  his  portly  chest,  he  had  discussed  the 
bill  of  fare  with  the  waiter,  and  settled  himself  to  wait 
for  the  first  dishes,  that  he  replied,  leaning  back  and 
directing  his  eyes  to  the  chandelier  overhead  : 

"  This  part  of  the  matter  I  have  nothing  to  do  with, 
Ned.  Isn't  it  enough  that  I  furnish  money  to  those  fel 
lows,  but  must  I  furnish  both  brains  and  hands  ? 
Wilkins  ought  to  know  how  to  manage  such  obstacles  as 
this  Bowyer.  He  used  to  have  a  way — and  tools  with 
which  to  force  such  obstacles  to  stand  aside." 

Willitts  nodded,  poured  out  a  glass  of  sherry,  sipped  it 
and  nodded  again.  "  Y-es,  I  know,"  he  said  deliberately. 
"  It  is  a  good  while  since  anything  of  that  kind  was  done 
though,  and  it  is  risky,  always.  I  don't  know,  exactly, 
how  the  thing  was  managed,  but  Wilkins  could  engineer 
it,  no  doubt.  There  was  a  fellow  called  Rourke  or  Voss, 
or  any  other  convenient  name,  who  was  a  useful  person 
to  have  about,  Wilkins  said.  The  fighting  manager,  they 
called  him  at  the  distillery.  Andross  had  the  man  under 
his  thumb,  they  said." 

"Jack  got  him  out  of  the  penitentiary  four  years  be 
fore  his  sentence  ran  out,"  Laird  said,  with  ill  concealed 
irritation  that  he  was  obliged  to  answer.  "  I  can  send 
him  back  to-morrow  if  I  choose.  He  fought  with  Mace 


JOHN  AKDROSS.  157 

last  week  in  Brooklyn.  Wilkins  knows  where  to  find 
him,  if  he  wants  him.  Now,  let  us  be  done  with  this, 
Willitts.  It's  not  a  subject  I  fancy." 

"That's  true.  It  spoils  digestion.  Though  if  the 
worst  come  to  the  worst,  it  can  only  give  Major  Bowyer 
a  month  or  two  of  seclusion  in  which  to  mend  a  broken 
head,  and  meditate  on  his  own  virtues. " 

"  Try  this  salmi  ?  Whatever  is  done  to  Bowyer,  let  it 
be  effectual.  Don't  let  there  be  any  bungling.  Don't 
let  him  be  attacked  and  made  more  furious,  like  a  beast 
half  mangled  by  dogs." 

"That  is  the  objection  to  using  that  kind  of  men. 
You  never  know  how  much  they  will  do,  or  leave  un 
done.  I  object  to  coarse  tools  always." 

Laird  did  not  answer. 

"  By  the  way,"  asked  Ned  presently,  delicately  wiping 
his  mustache  with  his  napkin,  "  in  case  Wilkins  is  obliged 
to  have  recourse  to  our  friend's  aid,  what  is  to  be  done 
with  him  afterwards  ?  There  will  be  no  difficulty  in 
bringing  him  through  a  trial  scot  free,  if  you  choose  the 
judge  and  counsel,  or  would  you  prefer  to  have  him 
locked  up  for  a  few  years  ?  " 

"  Time  enough  to  discuss  that  hereafter.  He  may  not 
be  needed  at  all.  But  if  he  is,"  stooping  forward  with  a 
suddenly  startled  face,  "remember  Colonel  Latimer  is  to 
be  held  as  safe  as  I  am.  Bowyer  is  the  point  of  attack. 
If  one  of  old  Latimer's  gray  hairs  are  touched,  every  man 
concerned  in  it  shall  suffer  as  for  murder.  Make  Wilkins 
understand  that." 

"Very  well,"  composedly  disjointing  his  bird.  But 
secretly  he  thought  the  blow  had  better  be  aimed  at  the 
real  cause  of  difficulty,  and  he  had  little  doubt  that 
Wilkins  would  agree  with  him,  and  follow  his  own 
counsel.  In  fact  Wilkins,  infuriated  by  his  arrest,  had 
threatened  this  very  morning  to  take  matters  in  his  own 
hands  in  future,  and  hinted  that  Laird's  capital  did  not 


156  JOHN   AKDEOSS. 

"  Tell  the  men  to  pay  the  tax  on  every  gallon.  "We 
can  stand  it — for  a  week  or  two." 

"  You  will  not  throw  Bowyer  off  his  guard  in  that 
way.  The  fellow  has  the  eye  of  a  lynx.  And  he  really 
seems  to  do  his  duty  for  the  duty's  sake.  A  dull  kind  of 
fellow,  I  suspect,  with  no  idea  of  making  his  way  in  the 
world.  In  case  he  is  as  wide-awake  as  ever,  after  this 
spasm  of  honesty  in  the  distillers,  what  are  they  to  do  ?" 

Mr.  Laird  got  up  and  walked  impatiently  down  the 
room.  Coming  back  he  beckoned  Willitts.  "It  is 
quite  time  for  supper,"  he  said,  as  though  he  had  forgot 
ten  the  subject  altogether.  It  was  not  until,  with  his 
napkin  spread  over  his  portly  chest,  he  had  discussed  the 
bill  of  fare  with  the  waiter,  and  settled  himself  to  wait 
for  the  first  dishes,  that  he  replied,  leaning  back  and 
directing  his  eyes  to  the  chandelier  overhead  : 

"  This  part  of  the  matter  I  have  nothing  to  do  with, 
Ned.  Isn't  it  enough  that  I  furnish  money  to  those  fel 
lows,  but  must  I  furnish  both  brains  and  hands  ? 
Wilkins  ought  to  know  how  to  manage  such  obstacles  as 
this  Bowyer.  He  used  to  have  a  way — and  tools  with 
which  to  force  such  obstacles  to  stand  aside." 

Willitts  nodded,  poured  out  a  glass  of  sherry,  sipped  it 
and  nodded  again.  "  Y-es,  I  know,"  he  said  deliberately. 
"  It  is  a  good  while  since  anything  of  that  kind  was  done 
though,  and  it  is  risky,  always.  I  don't  know,  exactly, 
how  the  thing  was  managed,  but  Wilkins  could  engineer 
it,  no  doubt.  There  was  a  fellow  called  Eourke  or  Voss, 
or  any  other  convenient  name,  who  was  a  useful  person 
to  have  about,  Wilkins  said.  The  fighting  manager,  they 
called  him  at  the  distillery.  Andross  had  the  man  under 
his  thumb,  they  said." 

"Jack  got  him  out  of  the  penitentiary  four  years  be 
fore  his  sentence  ran  out,"  Laird  said,  with  ill  concealed 
irritation  that  he  was  obliged  to  answer.  "lean  send 
him  back  to-morrow  if  I  choose.  He  fought  with  Mace 


JOHN  ANDEOSS.  157 

last  week  in  Brooklyn.  Wilkins  knows  where  to  find 
him,  if  he  wants  him.  Now,  let  us  be  done  with  this, 
Willitts.  It's  not  a  subject  I  fancy." 

"That's  true.  It  spoils  digestion.  Though  if  the 
worst  come  to  the  worst,  it  can  only  give  Major  Bowyer 
a  month  or  two  of  seclusion  in  which  to  mend  a  broken 
head,  and  meditate  on  his  own  virtues." 

"  Try  this  salmi  ?  Whatever  is  done  to  Bowyer,  let  it 
be  effectual.  Don't  let  there  be  any  bungling.  Don't 
let  him  be  attacked  and  made  more  furious,  like  a  beast 
half  mangled  by  dogs." 

"That  is  the  objection  to  using  that  kind  of  men. 
You  never  know  how  much  they  will  do,  or  leave  un 
done.  I  object  to  coarse  tools  always." 

Laird  did  not  answer. 

"  By  the  way,"  asked  Ned  presently,  delicately  wiping 
his  mustache  with  his  napkin,  "  in  case  "Wilkins  is  obliged 
to  have  recourse  to  our  friend's  aid,  what  is  to  be  done 
with  him  afterwards  ?  There  will  be  no  difficulty  in 
bringing  him  through  a  trial  scot  free,  if  you  choose  the 
judge  and  counsel,  or  would  you  prefer  to  have  him 
locked  up  for  a  few  years  ?  " 

"  Time  enough  to  discuss  that  hereafter.  He  may  not 
be  needed  at  all.  But  if  he  is,"  stooping  forward  with  a 
suddenly  startled  face,  "remember  Colonel  Latimer  is  to 
be  held  as  safe  as  I  am.  Bowyer  is  the  point  of  attack. 
If  one  of  old  Latimer's  gray  hairs  are  touched,  every  man 
concerned  in  it  shall  suffer  as  for  murder.  Make  Wilkins 
understand  that." 

"Very  well,"  composedly  disjointing  his  bird.  But 
secretly  he  thought  the  blow  had  better  be  aimed  at  the 
real  cause  of  difficulty,  and  he  had  little  doubt  that 
Wilkins  would  agree  with  him,  and  follow  his  own 
counsel.  In  fact  Wilkins,  infuriated  by  his  arrest,  had 
threatened  this  very  morning  to  take  matters  in  his  own 
hands  in  future,  and  hinted  that  Laird's  capital  did  not 


158 


JOHN  ANDROSS. 


counterbalance  the  personal  risk  run  by  the  actual  distil 
lers,  or  give  him  the  right  to  dictate. 

Willitts  was  forced  to  hurry  his  supper  to  catch  the 
midnight  train.  Mr.  Laird  walked  with  him  to  the  door 
of  the  club-house.  He  detained  him  a  moment  at 

parting.  -,  , 

"Ned  if  you  know  any  means  which  can  be  brougli 
to  bear  on  Andross  to  induce  him  to  vote  with  his  party, 
I  wish  you'd  use  them.    I  have  a  sure  hold  on  the  fellow, 
but  I'd  rather  not  have  recourse  to  it,  if  possible, 
fact  is,  I  like  Jack." 

"  Everybody  does.     I'll  think  of  it." 

Ned  stretched  at  ease  in  his  sleeping  berth,  had  leisure 
to  think  of  it  seriously.  Andross  used  to  be  an  easy 
fellow,  ready  to  turn  this  way  or  that  at  anybody's  beck 
or  call.  Since  he  came  down  from  the  mountains  he  had 
been  wholly  changed— economical,  plodding,  obstinate  in 
trudging  on  his  own  path.  "It's  partly  religion,  and 
partly  love  for  that  little  witch  that  ails  him,"  shrewdly 
guessed  Ned.  "  He  thinks  he  can  pass  through  the 
Harrisburgh  legislature  like  Shadrach  and  his  friends 
through  the  fiery  furnace.  Every  time  he  turns  his 
back  on  a  fee,  or  plumps  an  honest  vote,  he  thinks  it 
brino-s  him  nearer  to  heaven  and  Anna."  He  lay  quiet 
for  a"  minute  or  two,  and  then  whistled,  his  merry,  good- 
natured  faced  twinkling. 

"  Aha  I  that  will  do  !  We  can  put  a  ring  through  any 
bull's  nose  in  that  way.  Master  Jack  will  find  he  can't 
slip  the  party  traces.  I  wonder  we  did  not  think  of  that 
plan  before.  But  Anna  must  manage  it."  And  he  com 
posed  himself  to  a  balmy  sleep. 


JOHK  AXDKOSS.  159 

CHAPTER    XVI. 

~\  /TE.  WILLITTS  had  an  early  opportunity  of  carrying 
his  plan  into  effect,  as  he  found  a  note  with 
Anna's  monogram  in  daintiest  pink  and  gold  on  the  seal, 
inviting  him  to  dine  with  her  father  the  next  evening. 
Miss  Maddox  usually  controulled  her  father's  efforts  at 
hospitality. 

As  the  church-bells  were  ringing  for  evening  service, 
Ned  found  himself  in  the  hall  of  the  judge's  gay  little 
house  on  Spruce  street.  Every  gas-burner  that  could 
give  a  light  was  blazing  at  its  full  head  from  garret  to 
basement;  frescoes  and  brilliant  chromos  and  gilding, 
Axminster  carpets  and  brocatelle  curtains  sent  back  the 
light  all  over  the  house ;  from  the  open  parlor  doors  came 
a  buzz  of  voices,  amid  which  Anna's  sweet,  shrill  little 
pipe  cut  the  air  incessantly.  Ned  drew  off  his  overcoat 
quickly ;  he  liked  the  house  and  the  overdressed  manner 
of  it ;  it  was  like  a  brassy  opera  of  Verdi's. 

In  the  hall  he  met  Ware. 

"  Is  Andross  here  ?"  hurriedly  asked  Ned. 

"  No,  but  he  is  coming,  I  believe.  He  runs  down  from 
Harrisburgh  every  Friday  to  pay  his  court  here  until 
Monday,  they  tell  me.  What  ehance  has  he,  do  you 
think?  Maddox  will  want  his  daughter  to  marry  for 
money  or  position,  I  fancy." 

"I  do  not  know,"  said  Ned  coldly. 

Ware  was  a  good  fellow,  but  in  danger  of  forgetting 
the  anvil  from  which  he  dated,  if  he  was  not  snubbed 
now  and  then. 

There  were  half  a  dozen  men  for  dinner,  but  no  women 
excepting  Mrs.  General  Ralston,  one  of  those  ponderous 
matrons  so  common  in  Philadelphia,  whose  bulk  and 
black  velvet  and  hook  nose  and  turrets  of  shining  white 
hair  atop  symbolize  a  sort  of  social  Gibraltar,  commanding 
any  position.  Mrs.  Ralston  was  there  as  a  chaperone  for 


160  .     JOHN   ANDROSS. 

Miss  Maddox,  who  held  herself,  however,  carefully  aloof 
from  her,  having  her  own  business  to  transact  with  every 
man  present. 

Anna,  grown  thinner,  her  complexion  more  delicate, 
and  dressed  by  Worth  with  a  regard  to  her  peculiar  style, 
was  a  much  finer  study  of  Simplicity  and  Youth  than  in 
her  crude  state  in  the  mountains. 

Willitts  secured  a  seat  beside  her  at  dinner,  and  on 
somebody  regretting  the  absence  of  "  our  young  senator,7' 
remarked  carelessly  that  he  heard  that  Andross  was  de 
termined  to  slip  the  party  yoke,  voting  as  he  pleased, 
according  to  his  conscience. 

"Yes,  by  George,  sir!"  said  General  Ralston,  a  little, 
lean,  bewhiskered  man,  with  a  bass  voice  ;  "the  young 
man  forgets  himself,  sir  !  We  don't  send  representatives 
to  Harrisburgh  to  exercise  the  right  of  private  judgment, 
but  to  serve  their  constituency.  It  is  lucky  for  the  dis 
trict  that  his  term  expires  so  soon. " 

"The  meaning  of  which  is,"  whispered  Ware,  "that 
Ralston  took  an  axe  up  to  Jack  last  week,  and  brought  it 
back  unground." 

"An  "axe?"  said  Anna,  bewildered.  "But  will  not 
Mr.  Andross  go  back  to  the  senate  after  this  term?" 
turning  to  Ned. 

"I'm  afraid  not,"  laughing.  "His  tactics  are  not 
popular  with  the  drum-majors  of  the  party,  as  you  see." 

"But  really,  Mr.  Willitts,"  said  the  judge,  lowering 
his  tones,  "it  is  very  wrong  in  Andross,  as  well  as  im 
politic,  to  oppose  the  men  that  elected  him.  It's  un 
grateful  !  Ralston  tells  me  he  refused — absolutely  refused 
point-blank  a  position  to  his  son-in-law,  on  the  ground  of 
incompetency.  Now,  without  Ralston,  Laird  never  could 
have  got  that  seat  for  Andross.  No  use  for  Jack  to  butt 
his  head  against  customs  in  force  before  he  was  bom. 
'It's  cursedly  Quixotic." 

"  Do  you  really  think  he  will  not  be  sent  back  next 


^  AXDROSS.  161 


term?"  persisted  Anna,  as  soon  as  the  voices  drowned 
her  whisper.  Her  fair  forehead  was  knit,  and  there  was 
an  angry  glitter  in  the  blue  eyes  which  Jack  called 
saintly.  "He  has  not  so  much  social  rank  or  money, 
Heaven  knows,  that  he  can  afford  to  throw  away  the  little 
his  friends  have  got  for  him  !  What  is  the  matter  with 
his  tactics  ?  How  does  he  offend  these  men  ?" 

Ned  was  idly  speculating,  as  she  talked,  how  this 
shrewish  tone  would  sound  thirty  years  hence,  when  the 
nose  and  dimpled  chin  were  sharp,  and  crow's-feet  had 
come  into  the  neck. 

"  Tactics  ?"  he  said  hastily,  catching  himself.  "  Well, 
Andross  has  set  himself  against  these  men  in  every  way  ; 
he  is  a  rigid  impersonation  of  virtue.  He  might  be  as 
honest  as  he  pleased,  but  not  run  counter  to  every  man's 
prejudices.  Apropos  to  prejudices,  I  am  glad  to  see  that 
you  are  not  a  fanatic  about  temperance,"  glancing  at  the 
half  empty  champagne  glass  which  she  had  absently 
raised  to  her  lips.  ' 

"  Do  you  think  it  looks  unwomanly  for  a  young  girl  to 
take  wine  ?"  looking  sharply  at  him. 

"I?  Oh  dear,  no!  All  fashionable  girls  take  it.s 
You  ought  to  see  Netty  Ford  after  supper  !  By  the  way, 
that  is  one  of  Jack's  delinquencies.  He  is  abstinent  to 
an  absurd  degree  ;  makes  himself  a  sort  ~  of  living  sermon 
at  every  dinner  or  card-party  in  Harrisburgh.  Now," 
leaning  closer,  as  he  saw  how  intently  she  listened,  "he 
is  precisely  one  of  the  men  to  whom  wine  in  moderation 
would  be  an  advantage.  A  glass  or  two  would  make  him 
more  genial,  pliable  —  popular;  you  understand?" 

"I  shouldn't  like,"  shaking  her  head  gravely,  "to  see 
him  a  drunkard." 

"Am  I  a  drunkard  ?  Is  your  father  ?  Be  reasonable, 
Miss  Maddox.  It  is  your  duty,  as  his  friend,  to  advise 
Andross  for  his  good  ;  and  you  see  the  imminent  danger 
he  is  in  of  losing  his  seat." 


162  JOHN"   AKDROSS. 

"  Oh,  if  he  loses  that  little  bit  of  respectability,  he 
need  not  count  me  as  his  friend,  I  can  tell  you,"  tossing 
her  daintily  coiffured  head.  "  Let  us  talk  of  something 
else.  I'm  tired  of  Andross  !" 

Ned  obeyed.  But  he  saw  that  she  only  meant  to  gain 
fcime  to  make  up  that  bundle  of  small  particles,  her  mind. 
There  was  a  slight  bustle  in  the  hall  presently,  and  An- 
dross's  voice,  loud  and  hearty,  was  heard.  A  pleasant 
stir  passed  round  the  tablets  though  a  fresh  wind  had 
suddenly  come  into  the  room.'  "  There  he  comes  !"  said 
one  to  another,  smiling.  Even  Ealston  relaxed  his  scowl : 
he  could  not  help  but  like  the  fellow  in  spite  of  himself. 

"Why,  Jack  my  boy  ! "  cried  the  judge,  going  to  the 
door  as  Andross  in  full  evening  dress,  his  handsome  face 
glowing  and  ruddy  with  the  frost,  came  in.  He  shook 
hands  with  everybody,  joked  with  Ned,  touched  Anna's 
hand  with  a  furtive  lopk,  which  Willitts  caught,  and 
thought  how  like  a  woman  the  man  was,  with  all  his 
tremendous  muscular  power.  Ned  had  never  seen  a  wo 
man's  eyes  so  brilliant  and  tender. 

"  You  think  if  he  would  be  friendly  and  drink  moder 
ately  with  those  people  it  would  bring  all  right  ? " 
breathlessly  whispered  Anna. 

"He  would  undoubtedly  become  more  ductile.  The 
party  complain  he  won't  work  in  harness,  as  you  heard. " 

"  He  ought  to  work  in  harness  or  in  anything  they 
give  him,"  irritably.  "  What  right  has  he  to  oppose  the 
party,  when  they  can  take  his  salary  from  him  ?  " 

"  I  would  not  argue  with  him  on  political  grounds  if  I 
were  you,"  cautiously  suggested  Ned. 

'  "Oh,  I  never  argue!"  quickly.  "Nothing  disgusts 
men  with  a  woman  so  much.  As  for  politics  I  owe  all  I ' 
know  to  you,  Mr.  Willitts,"  with  an  upward  confiding 
glance,  which  for  the  moment  rendered  Ned  dumb. 
"But  if  the  wine  is  a  remedy  I  will  administer  that," 
smiling  across  the  table  to  Andross  who,  unable  to  hear 


ANDKOSS.  163 

her  words,  was  watching  her  lovely,  mobile  face  with,  de 
light. 

"  I  went  into  Holy  Trinity  church,  Miss  Maddox,  as  I 
came  up,"  he  said,  "and  heard  Phillips  Brooks  lecture. 
I  am  glad  you  have  chosen  that  church." 

Anna  bowed  and  smiled.  Her  care  in  choosing  a 
church  had  been  to  find  one  in  a  fashionable  neighbour 
hood,  and  when  found,  to  secure  a  foremost  seat  in  it. 

"Yes,"  responded  Mrs.  Ealston,  "one  comes  out  of  it 
with  a  new  faith  in  humanity." 

Andross  felt  as  if  he  did  not  need  Phillips  Brooks  to 
give  him  faith  in  humanity  to-night.  Life  was  so  differ 
ent  with  him  from  the  best  which  he  had  hoped,  when 
he  put  on  Laird's  yoke.  Nothing  had  interfered  with  his 
resolve  to  be  honest.  To-day  he  had  seen  a  chance  where 
by  a  lucky  stroke  he  might  honestly  earn  the  money  to 
replace  to  the  Gray  Eagle  account.  That  done  he  could 
look  God  and  the  world  in  the  face  again.  As  for  this 
depravity  in  mankind,  to  which  Mr.  Brooks  had  referred, 
that  was  a  far-off  matter  for  theologians  to  deal  with. 
No  doubt  there  was  truth  somewhere  in  those  old  sym 
bolic  legends  of  a  pilgrim  soul  beset  in  its  dark  and 
lonely  way  by  tempting  fiends,  which,  when  it  was  van 
quished,  dragged  it  down  to  abodes  of  unknown,  unutter 
able  woe.  But  what  place  was  there  for  tempted  souls  or 
evil  spirits  in  Judge  Maddox's  drawing-room  ?  Jack's 
heart  was  light  as  he  walked  by  Anna's  side  into  it ;  his 
eyes  full  of  laughter.  These  men,  all  the  men  he  knew 
in  the  city,  in  fact,  were  such  a  cordial  lot  of  good  fel 
lows  !  sensible,  practical,  attaching  too  much  importance 
to  money,  perhaps,  but  ready  to  help  on  with  any  useful 
work  of  science  or  knowledge  ;  charitable,  too,  and  sup 
porters  of  churches  and  asylums.  Ned  Willitts,  for  in-N 
stance ;  why,  that  featherheaded  fellow  had  a  heart 
as  easily  moved  as  a  girl's  by  a  fine  poem,  or  a  touching 
song,  or  a  tale  of  suffering.  And  then  there  were  the 


164  JOHS"   AXDROSS. 

women — with  their  beauty  and  tenderness,  as  if  God  had 
sent  them  purposely  to  help  a  poor  striving  fellow  back 
to  Him. 

He  paused  by  the  door,  holding  it  open  for  Anna  to  pass 
through.  She  halted  one  moment  uncertainly,  and  then 
motioned  to  a  servant : 

"You  did  not  take  wine  with  me,  Mr.  Andross," 
smiling,  the  glass  in  her  outstretched  hand.  "  We  must 
drink  to  your  reelection." 

Jack  held  it  carelessly,  watching  her  with  kindling 
face.  "  I  care  very  little  about  my  reelection.  I  shall 
have  no  trouble  in  finding  work  out  of  Harrisburgh." 

"  The  toast  ought  to  take  a  wider  range,  then,  Miss 
Maddox,"  said  Ned.  "Your  success,  Andross;  you 
can't  refuse  that." 

"  No,"  draining  his  glass.     "  To  my  success." 

Anna  blushed  shyly  as  she  took  his  arm,  having 
caught  the  look  with  which  he  gave  the  word  signi 
ficance. 

"I  wish  I  could  think  wine  or  anything  else  would 
help  me  to  speedier  success,"  whispered  Jack,  as  she 
leaned  upon  his  arm.  "  But  you  are  so  far  removed  from 
me  now." 

"You  must  act  differently,"  eagerly.  "You  must 
l^eep  your  position  if  we  hope  to  marry  at  all.  Papa  is  a 
prosaic,  practical  man,  as  I  have  told  you  before.  And 
to  keep  it,  you  must  be  more  friendly  with  the  leading 
men  of  your  party  ;  join  their  parties — play  cards — drink 
with  them.  You  are  not  afraid  to  do  it  ?  " 
•*  "Why,  who  has  been  filling  your  little  head  with 
politics  ?"  laughing.  "As  to  those  men,  they  know  me, 
and  what  I  am  worth,  tolerably  well.  I  am  no  hero  in 
their  eyes  as  in  yours,"  softly  ;  "and  as  for  drinking,  of 
course,'  I'm  not  afraid.  I  never  cared  for  liquor  in  any 
shape,  and  never  shall.  It  is  rather  disagreeable  than 
*  otherwise.  Tobacco  is  the  fatal  temptation  to.  me." 


JOHN   ANDROSS.  165 

Yet  at  the  time  he  felt  strangely  warmed  and  heart 
ened,  whether  by  the  wine  or  the  fervour  of  Anna's  re 
peated  soft  glances  he  could  not  tell. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

"YTT'HEN  Andross  left  the  judge's  house  that  evening, 
*  *     he  saw  a  man  crossing  one  of   the  squares,  and 
waited  under  a  lamp  for  him  to  come  up. 

"It  looks  like  Braddock;  but  it  can't  be  the  old  fellow, 
surely?"  he  muttered  anxiously.  Braddock  had  been 
for  the  last  three  months  in  Washington,  which  had  pre 
vented  their  meeting.  This  man  was  just  off  a  journey, 
carried  his  satchel  in  his  hand ;  but  where  was  the  im 
maculate  broadcloth,  the  glossy  shirt-cuffs,  the  high  hat 
by  which  Clay  was  wont  to  be  known  afar  off  to  all  men  ? 
Andross  noted  the  stooped  shoulders,  the  worn  coat,  the 
general  air  of  shabbiness  and  depression.  The  change 
startled  and  touched  him  so  sharply  that  he  stood  still  t- 
instead  of  hurrying  forward. 

"What  trouble  can  he  have  had?  What  can  he  have 
done  ?"  He  always  had,  thought  of  Clay,  with  his  firm 
ness  and  virtue,  as  one  of  the  people  who  jog  safely  along 
a  straight  but  pleasant  path  from  the  baptismal  font  to 
the  gate  of  Heaven;  very  much  with  the  unutterable 
envy  with  which  the  prodigal  come  back  from  feeding 
the  swine,  regarded  the  elder  brother  who  never  had  left 
home  or  respectability  behind  him.  Yet  there  was  some 
thing  of  the  hungry  and  disreputable  air  of  the  prodigal 
in  Braddock  now. 

Perhaps  nothing  could  have  made  it  plainer  to  himself 
that  he  was  "going  down  hill"  than  the  scuffed  trousers 
and  unblackened  boots ;  but  it  would  have  been  hard  for 
him  to  explain  what  was  the  trouble.  He  had  'been 


166  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

barely  able  to  earn  bread  and  butter  in  the  city,  was  ono 
thing.  When  the  time  came  for  him  to  dispatch  his 
weekly  remittance  to  his  m6ther,  he  had  more  than  once 
been  driven  to  a  pawn-shop  to  obtain  it.  In  Washing 
ton  it  was  worse.  One  young  fellow  after  another  said 
to  him,  "  There's  no  room  for  patient,  honest  effort  in  a 
city.  You  must  have  capital,  or  influence,  or  cheek, 
which  is  better  than  either.  Money-making  is  a  great 
game  of  grab,  and  a  modest  man  stands  no  chance.  Look 

at  Fisk  or  Tweed,  in  New  York,  or ,"  naming  two 

or  three  Philadelphians,  whose  liveried  and  gold -mounted 
equipages  dazzled  the  street.  "Did  they  achieve  suc 
cess  by  modest  industry  ?  " 

He  could  not  but  remember  that  he  had  put  Laird's 
influence  and  his  own  little  capital  away  from  him  for 
the  best  motives  ;kand  where  was  his  reward  ?  The  wicked 
were  exalted  and  the  righteous  man  cast  down.  Clay, 
standing  with  his  empty  pocket  at  the  street  corners 
while  these  carriages  flung  mud  from  their  wheels  in  his 
face,  was  tried  by  the  old  problem  which  thousands  of 
years  ago  vexed  David.  And  what  chance  had  he  to 
marry  now  ? 

As  for  Andross,  he  heard  of  him  as  rich  and  prosper 
ous  ;  a  touch  from  Laird's  sceptre  had  opened  every  way 
to  him.  Now  although  Braddock  had  carefully  hidden 
from  Jack  the  sacrifice  he  made  for  him,  he  was  galled 
that  he  did  not  know  it,  and  angry  at  his  ingratitude. 
He  had  heard  in  Washington  this  morning  that  he  was 
to  marry  Anna  Maddox,  and  had  come  on  purposely  to 
stop  it.  It  was  a  righteous  errand,  and  justified  the 
Sabbath  travel,  he  told  himself.  It  was  his  own  fault  if 
this  marriage  took  place.  His  mawkish  feeling  for  An 
dross  had  kept  him  silent — made  him  shelter  him  when 
he  should-  have  warned  Judge  Maddox  against  him  as  a 
thief.  It  was  not  yet  too  late.  The  innocent  child 
could  yet  be  saved.  He  would  be  silent  not  a  day  longer. 


JOHN   ANDROSS.  167 

And  under  all  this  disappointment  and  bitterness  and 
rage  there  was  another  feeling  at  the  remembrance  of  the 
innocent  child,  which  gnawed  at  Braddock's  conscience, 
and  made  him  more  wretched  than  them  all. 

It  was  in  this  mood,  hurrying  to  deliver  himself  of  his 
message,  that,  looking  up  as  he  came  under  the  lamp,  he 
faced  Andross. 

"Braddock?"  He  caught  him  both  hands  on  the 
shoulders.  "  Have  you  been  ill  ?  Don't  you  know  me, 
Clay  ?  " 

The  light  shone  full  on  the  erect,  gallant  figure,  the 
fine,  sensitive  face.  There  was  a  peculiar  warmth,  a 
gayety  about  Andross  in  these  his  happiest  days  which 
stirred  even  passers-by  into  momentary  cordiality  and 
cheerfulness.  Braddock  resented  it ;  he  resented  the  up 
right,  prosperous  bearing  of  the  man ;  the  very  rose  in 
his  button-hole,  the  anxious,  alarmed  scrutiny  of  himself, 
which  seemed  to  assert  their  friendship  on  its  old  footing. 

"No.  I  have  been  quite  well,"  settling  his  hat  on  his 
head  and  forcing  a  civil  smile.  "I  ought  to  have  known 
you,  Andross.  You  are  not  altered." 

"I  did  not  know  you  were  coming  up,"  he  went  on 
eagerly;  "I  asked  Miss  Latimer  to-day  when  you  would 
be  at  home,  but  she  did  not  expect  you." 

"No;"  with  the  old  mannerism  which  Jack  remem 
bered  he  had  used  to  others.  "  Since  I  was  obliged  to 
postpone  our  marriage  I  have  not  written  to  her  as  re 
gularly  as  I  ought.  My  resolve  to  come  up  to-night  was 
sudden,  prompted  by  some  news  that  I  heard." 

"Where  are  you  going  now,  Clay?"  walking  beside 
him  and  holding  his  arm  as  an  affectionate  school-boy 
might. 

"To  Judge  Maddox's." 

"  I  came  from  there  just  now.  The  house  is  closed  by 
this  time.  Come  to  my , room.  You  can  see  them  to 
morrow,  but  I  must  be  gone  by  the  early  train.  Come." 


1G8  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

Braddock  went.  There  was  something  in  the  manner 
and  touch  of  the  man  which  he  could  not  resist.  He 
walked  slowly,  angry  at  himself  for  yielding  to  the  old 
unaccountable  influence. 

Andross  talked  on,  too  excited  and  eager  to  be  con 
scious  of  the  chilly  reserve.  There  was  nobody,  not  even 
Anna,  who  came  as  near  to  the  headlong  fellow  as  Brad- 
dock.  Other  men  were  his  friends,  but  a  brother  might 
have  done  to  him  what  Clay  had  done. 

"  Were  you  sorry  to  leave  old  Mttany  ?  And  how  does 
it  go  in  Washington  ?  Miss  Latimer  tells  me  she  thinks 
you  have  been  successful  there." 

"  I  have  succeeded  as  much  as  I  had  a  right  to  expect, 
probably,"  coldly. 

"Every  time  I  came  up  from  Harrisburgh  I  hoped  to 
find  you  here.  I  wrote;  you  know,  but  you  did  not 
answer.  I  knew  you  were  too  busy;  don't  think  I 
minded  that,  old  fellow."  They  walked  on  in  silence  for 
a  square,  when  Jack  broke  in  :  "  It's  odd,  Braddock,  but 
whenever  I  think  of  you,  it  is  as  you  looked  to  me  that 
day  out  by  the  coaling  hearth,  you  remember  ?  My  go 
ing  there  was  a  mad  freak,  and  yet  to  go  back  seemed 
madness,  and  when  you,  a  gentleman,  spoke  to  me,  half 
naked  and  covered  with  ashes,  as  your  equal,  it  was  like 
a  voice  calling  me  out  of  the  pit.  You  remember  you 
bought  clothes  for  me  at  Belief  onte,  and  took  me  straight 
into  the  office.  No  man  ever  trusted  another  as  blindly 
as  you  did  me. "  He  was  so  much  moved  that  he  did  not 
notice  Braddock's  unbroken  silence. 

They  stopped  at  a  modest  little  house  on  a  narrow 
street.  Andross  opened  the  door,  and  led  the  doctor  up 
to  a  small  room  plainly  furnished.  An  open  fire  was  the 
only  sign  of  comfort.  "  Come  in,"  cried  Jack  heartily. 
"This  is  my  boarding-house  while  I'm  in  town.  It's 
clean,  at  at  events.  Put  your  feet  up  to  the  fire,"  wield 
ing  the  poker  vigorously. 


169 

Braddock  looked  curiously  about  him.  "I  certainly 
expected  to  find  you  in  more  luxurious  quarters.  I 
thought  you  were  on  the  high  road  to  fortune  ?  " 

"Not    precisely/'     carelessly.       "The     salary's    fair 

enough,  but  I'm  sailing  close  to  the  wind,  you  see.     By 

j  George,  I  turn  a  penny  over  twice  now,  before  I  spend  it." 

"May  I  ask  why?"  standing  eagerly  before  him. 
"You  are  going  to  marry  soon  ?" 

"No.  It's  not  for  that,"  colouring,  and  beating  a 
tattoo  on  the  bars  of  the  grate.  "  It's  a  debt  that  I  want 
to  pay.  Six  thousand  dollars.  It  was  a  terrible  criminal 
piece  of  business — God  forbid  you  should  know  anything 
about  it,  Clay.  I've  had  the  weight  of  it  to  carry  until 
sometimes  I  thought  I  never  could  rise  under  it.  But, 
God  willing,  I'll  clear  it  off  by  spring." 

The  doctor,  shabby  and  thin,  stood  looking  down  at 
him  for  a  minute.  "Stop  rattling  that  poker,  Jack," 
he  said,  laying  his  hand  on  his  shoulder.  "You  behave 
like  a  school-boy." 

Something  in  the  touch  of  the  hand  made  Andross 
look  up,  and  the  two  men  laughed. 

"Why,  I  forgot.  You've  had  nothing  to  eat!"  cried 
Andross  jumping  up.  "  I'm  as  hungry  myself  as  a  Nittany 
wolf.  I  was  at  Judge  Maddox's  for  dinner,  but  I  never 
can  eat  in  that  house. "  He  had  thrown  off  his  coat,  and 
was  hurrying  from  the  table  to  a  little  closet.  "Pull  off 
your  boots — there  are  slippers.  We'll  have  supper  in  no 
time.  I  board  myself,  you  see.  Oh  !  I'm  a  model  miser, 
Clay,"  fastening  a  wire  stand  over  the  gas-burner,  from 
which  presently  came  a  whiff  of  stewing  oysters  and 
coffee.  Dr.  Braddock  put  on  the  slippers  and  toasted 
his  feet  before  the  fire  with  an  odd  sense  of  comfort  and 
good  fellowship  which  he  had  almost  forgotten  was  in 
the  world.  It  was  not  possible  for  him  to  show  affection 
by  words  and  glances  like  Andross,  any  more  than  he 
could  have  laid  aside  his  dignity  to  stew  oysters  in  his 


170  JOHN   AISDROSS. 

shirt  sleeves.     But  the  man  who  could  took  his  heart 
and  fancy  by  storm. 

"  You  said  it  would  have  been  madness  in  you  to  go 
back  from  the  coalings  to  Laird  and  the  Eing  again. 
Yet  you  have  gone  back,  Andross  ?  " 

"Yes,  I  have,"  sitting  down  beside  him  while  the 
cooking  went  on  by  itself.  "Laird  offered  to  put  me 
into  Sheffield's  place — you  know  how  two  or  three  men 
here  controul  the  election.  When  I  accepted  his  offer 
that  night  at  the  furnace  I  felt  as  if  I  had  sold  my  soul 
to  the  devil." 

"Yet  you  did  it?" 

"Yes,  and  like  the  first  man,  for  a  woman,"  with  an 
attempt  to  laugh.  "I  was  mad,  I  suppose.  But  I  am 
not  cured  of  the  madness,"  going  uneasily  about  the 
room  to  hide  his  agitation.  "  I  supposed,"  after  a  pause, 
"that  I  would  be  the  tool  of  Laird  and  his  clique.  But 
as  yet  I  have  been  wholly  untrammelled.  I  have  voted 
and  spoken  in  the  Senate  in  every  case  out  of  my  honest 
conviction,  in  the  best  service  of  the  party — not  the  Ring. 
They  have  not  once  interfered  with  me." 

"It  is  an  unusual  result,"  said  Braddock  drily,  "that 
the  yielding  to  temptation  should  help  you  on  the  way 
both  to  honesty  and  success.  My  experience  has  been 
different. " 

"  Yes.  I  don't  know  how  it  is.  I'm  tempted  to  think 
sqmetimes  there  is  not  such  a  strict  watch  kept  over  us 
above  after  all.  It  really  seems  as  if  there  was  no  devil 
nor  special — Providence  ;  just  a  lot  of  fellows  struggling 
together  to  get  ahead  of  each  other.  God  knows,  Brad- 
dock,  I  have  yielded — sunk  about  as  low  as  a  man  could. 
Yet  here  I  have  the  chance  to  win  back  my  own  self- 
respect — to  be  a  rich  man,  honestly,  and  to  marry  some 
day  the  only  woman  I  ever  loved,"  his  fine  face  heating 
again. 

"You- mean   Miss  Maddox,   of  course!"   with  such 


S-   AKDROSS.  171 

marked  reserve  in  his  manner  that  Jack  became  more 
anxiously  cordial.  "  Yes,  I  think  there  is  no  doubt  of 
the  judge's  consent  if  I  am  reflected.  There  are  three  or 
four  men  madly  in  love  with  her  :  Bislow  and  Hoar,  the 
diamond  dealer.  Hoar  has  enormous  wealth  and  is  well 
preserved  in  spite  of  his  age.  But  the  judge  would  prefer 
me,  provided,  as  I  said,  I  go  back  to  the  Senate." 

"And  Anna?" 

"  Oh,  I  have  no  doubt  of  Anna  !" 

Doctor  Braddock  turned  in  his  chair  and  scanned  his 
face  ;  his  own  curiously  haggard  at  the  moment.  But 
Jack's  countenance  was  so  bright  and  genuine  ;  the  man 
himself,  affectionate  and  hopeful,  looked  out  of  it  so 
frankly  that  Braddock  turned  away.  How  could  he  tell 
him  that  his  errand  to-night  was  to  take  this  wom^n 
from  him  by  proclaiming  him  a  criminal  ?  He  clasped 
his  bands  behind  his  head  agaiii,  and  leaned  back  in  his 
chair. 

"  You  were  born  for  success,  Andross." 

"  It  looks  like  it  now  !  It  really  looks  like  it !  Come 
Braddock,  come  ;  supper  is  ready. " 

About  midnight,  Andross  left  Braddock  in  his  room 
and  started  to  take  the  one  o'clock  train.  The  doctor 
stood  at  the  door  of  the  little  house  and  watched  him  go 
whistling  down  the  street,  his  springy  step  ringing  on 
the  pavement;  the  policeman  touched  his  hat  and 
wished  him  good  night,  cheerfully ;  the  driver  of  the 
street-car  woke  up  and  brightened  into  a  human  being  as 
he  jumped  aboard  with  a  hearty,  Hillo  ! 

But  the  charm  was  off  of  Braddock  when  his  back  was 
turned.  "Uncertain  as* water,  thou  shall  not  excel,"  he 
muttered. 

Jack  at  the  same  moment  was  summing  up  his  own 
future.  "When  I  am  clear  of  this  cursed  theft,  I'm 
safe,"  he  thought.  "  No  danger  that  I  should  ever  slip 
again.  I'll  be  successful,  as  he  says,  and  deserve  success." 


172  JOHN   ANDKOSS. 

CHAPTER    XVIII. 

"pvOCTOE  Braddock  called  on  Miss  Maddox  before 
-*-^  finding  Colonel  Latimer's  the  next  morning.  He 
told  himself  the  reason  for  this  was  that  the  house  lay 

\  directly  in  his  way  ;  yet  he  despised  himself  for  the  lie, 
as  he  did  it. 

Anna,  when  his  card  was  brought  to  her,  was  especially 
in  need  of  the  soothing  influence  of  friendship  :  love,  she 
felt  this  morning,  was  harassing  beyond  endurance.  If 
she  had  to  begin  manoeuvring  for  Andross  as  a  lover  now, 
to  keep  him  up  to  a  decent  grade  of  salary  and  society, 
what  would  she  not  have  had  to  do  had  they  been  mar 
ried  ?  Had  he  not  invited  her  once  to  a  blissful  union  to 
be  founded  on  honesty  and  twenty  dollars  a  week  ?  In 
the  vexation  caused  by  such  blind  pig-headedness,  the 
advent  of  Doctor  Braddock,  who  regarded  her  as  a.  be 
witching  saint,  was  opportune  and  refreshing :  she  hur 
ried  down  to  meet  him. 

Outside,  the  sky  was  thick  with  fog,  a  heavy  rain 
falling ;  streets  and  pavement  deep  with  mud ;  the  jarring 
of  carts  and  cars,  the  patter  of  rain  on  umbrellas  the 
only  sounds  heard ;  inside,  the  gay  little  room  was  filled 
with  floweis,  birds  sang,  a  delicate  Italian  grayhound 
slept  on  a  Turkish  rug  before  the  sparkling  fire,  and 
Anna,  in  white,  her  fair  hair  flowing  about  her  shoulders, 
was  the  personification  of  summer.  Doctor  Braddock 
had  but  little  imagination ;  but  that  small  share  was 

.taken  captive  by  the  scene  and  the  actor.  He  was 
guarded  to  dulness  in  his  manner,  however,  through  his 
fear  of  betraying  Andross's  secret,  which  he  knew  she 
already  suspected,  and  perhaps  from  some  deeper  reason. 
But  the  morning  was  too  wet  for  her  to  go  out  or  to  ex 
pect  visitors,  and  the  stiff,  pale  man  in  his  unfashionable 
suit  of  black,  and  green  necktie,  on  the  other  side  of  the 
fireplace,  was  the  only  support  offered  for  Anna's  clinging 


JOHX   ANDROSS.  173 

nature.  Scuffed  trousers  and  green  necktie  were  trifling 
drawbacks  compared  to  the  stupidity  which  would  make 
a  man  fly  in  the  face  of  his  salary. 

She  did  not  propose,  however,  to  confide  this  individual 
grief  to  her  friend.  She  gave  him  very  clearly  the  gen 
eral  idea  of  her  lonely  and  isolated  condition  in  the 
fashionable  crowd ;  of  her  homesickness  for  the  moun 
tains  ;  he  penetrated  to  the  depths  of  her  nature,  he 
thought  with  delight,  as  one  would  look  into  a  clear 
forest  spring — she  all  unconscious  of  his  gaze.  She  was 
Maud  Muller — without  the  desire  to  be  the  Judge's  bride, 
decked  in  silken  gown.  Then  she  concerned  herself 
gently  for  his  well-being  ;  was  sure  his  feet  were  damp ; 
ran  to  feel  his  overcoat  as  an  anxious  mother  might, 
brought  him  a  cup  of  hot  coffee  "  to  take  the  chill  off," 
and  stood,  her  innocent  eyes  upturned  to  his,  holding  the 
saucer  while  he  drank  it. 

A  mother  ?    A  wife. 

And  Andross,  with  all  other  good  fortune,  was  to  have 
this  lovely  creature  to  wait  on  him,  to  be  waited  on, 
cherished,  held  in  his  arms. 

"You  are  chilly — you  are  so  deathly  pale !  Will  you 
have  some  more  ?"  drawing  back  in  unfeigned  fright. 

"No,  thank  you.  I  saw  Andross  last  night,  Miss 
Maddox,"  forcing  a  smile.  "  Faithful  to  his  allegiance 
still?" 

Unmistakable  sadness  clouded  her  fair  brow.  She  was 
silent  a  moment,  and  then  her  confidence  ebbed  slowly 
forth.  Her  father  and  Mr.  Andross  looked  upon  their 
marriage  as  a  certainty :  she  herself  felt  as  though  she 
were  tangled  in  a  net  which  drew  her  in  more  closely 
every  day.  Mr.  Andross  was  a  dear  friend  to  her,  he  was 
a  dear  friend  to  everybody.  "  But,  oh !  Doctor  Brad- 
dock,"  her  head  sinking  on  her  breast,  "  there  is  some 
thing  in  him  that  I  dread  !  He  is  in  some  points  totally 
alien  from  me  ! " 


174  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

"Ah!  I  believe  that,  Miss  Maddox.  And  yet  Jack  is 
a  loyal  friend,  and  he  would  be  a  most  faithful  husband." 

' '  I  know  by  your  voice  you  are  forcing  yourself  to  say 
that !"  without  looking  up.  "You  know  he  is  a  grown 
up  child,  and  so  am  I.  I  ought  to  have  a  stronger  guide 
than  he  is.  I  have  fancied  that  when  I  married " 

Doctor  Braddock  set  down  the  cup.  Why  should  he  not 
listen  to  her  innocent  talk  ?  She  was  but  a  spoiled  child, 
as  she  said.  "  What  was  your  dream  of  a  lover  or  hus 
band  then  ?"  with  an  awkward  laugh. 

"I  hardly  can  put  it  into  words,"  gazing  with  absent 
eyes  into  the  fire,  while  the  tall  figure  in  black  stood 
stiffly  before  her.  "A  man  strong  in  principle  and  piety. 
Yes,  of  all  things,  principle  would  be  first  in  my  eyes." 

"You  would  respect  such  a  man;  but  would  you  love 
him?"  Doctor  Braddock  passed  his  forefinger  over  his 
mouth  once  or  twice  after  he  had  spoken ;  a  most  un 
gainly,  stupid  gesture,  but  some  motion  must  break  the 
intense  strain  which  he  had  put  upon  himself.  The  rain 
pattered  hard  upon  the  pane,  the  cat  purred  and  turned 
sleepily  over,  but  Anna  was  silent.  Her  fingers  pressed 
clo.ser  on  each  other  until  the  delicate  tips  sunk  into  the 
pink  flesh. 

"Love  and  friendship,"  the  doctor's  harsh  voice  broke 
the  silence,  "  are  such  different  things.  You — you  could 
not  love  such  a  man  ?" 

She  suddenly  raised  her  dovelike  eyes  to  his,  a  fiery  red 
dyed  her  face  and  neck  and  bosom ;  she  started  up  and 
shyly  began  twisting  the  dried  fern  leaves  in  the  vases. 

Braddock  made  a  hasty  step  towards  her,  and  then 
dropped  into  a  chair  by  the  table,  covering  his  eyes  with 
his  hand.  What  fight  he  fought  with  himself  in  that 
minute  no  one  ever  knew  but  himself  and  God.  He 
stood  up  again  angular  and  stiff,  wiping  his  pale  face 
with  his  handkerchief;  "precisely,"  as  Anna  told  her 
self,  "like  a  Presbyterian  elder  beginning  an  exhortation." 


BBADDOCK'S  MENTAL  ANGUISH. 


AKDKOSS.  177 

"Your  idea  of  what  married  life  should  be  coincides 
with  mine,  Miss  Maddox,"  he  said  formally;  "I  chose  a 
wife  whose  principle  of  action  is  higher  than — than  mine. 
God  help  me!"  with  a  sudden  break,  "I  love  her  very 
truly.  I  respect  her  too  as  I  do  no  other  human  being," 
emphatically,  and  talking  as  Anna  well  knew,  to  himself. 

"Ah  !  but  we  can  not  all  deserve  her  happiness  !"  with 
a  tearful  smile.  "  There  are  few  Bell  Latimers  among 
womankind!" 

The  magnanimity  of  the  lovely  child  !  How  she  strug 
gled  against  her  pain  lest  she  might  trouble  him ;  strug 
gled  against — could  it  be  ?  her  love  for  him  ? 

Again  a  sudden  silence  fell  upon  the  room,  the  dreary 
beat  of  the  rain  again  grew  audible.  For  one  rapt  mo 
ment  Doctor  Braddock  saw  only  the  mellow  tinting  of  a 
delicate  cheek  turned  from  him,  across  which  a  bit  of 
fair  hair  had  fallen ;  then  he  began  to  pull  on  his  worn 
gloves,  took  up  his  hat,  and  muttering  he  knew  not  what, 
stumbled  out  of  the  room  and  the  house. 

"The  awkward  wretch!"  said  Anna,  "he  almost  fell 
into  my  jardiniere.  His  feet  are  such  scows — like  coal 
barges.  To  think  me  in  love  with  him — of  all  the  con 
ceited "  But  seeing  at  that  moment  his  umbrella 

pass  the  window,  with  his  stern,  thin  face  under  it,  and 
realizing  how  much  more  picturesque  it  was  than  Jack's 
merry  phiz,  and  that  he  was  gone  from  her  forever,  she 
sat  down  and  dribbled  out  some  of  her  ever-ready  tears. 

A  few  minutes  later,  Doctor  Braddock,  seated  in  An- 
dross's  room,  without  taking  off  his  overcoat,  wrote  the 
following  letter : 

"Dear  Isabel:  It  is  with  the  most  thorough  trust  in 
your  love  for  me  that  I  ask  you  to  prove  it.  There  is  no 
need  of  our  waiting  longer  for  more  money  on  which  to 
marry.  You  do  not  care  for  it,  and  God  knows  I  have 
need  of  that  which  no  wealth  can  buy  just  now,  but 
which  you  may  give  me."  He  stopped,  dipped  his  pen 


178  JOHN.  ANDROSS. 

in  the  ink  once  or  twice,  conscious  that  he  had  strayed 
from  the  main  subject  into  one  which  it  was  not  easy  to 
pursue  further.  Doctor  Braddock  was  suffering  from 
none  of  the  mental  agony  expressed  by  cold  sweats,  pallor, 
etc. ,  common  to  Anna's  imagined  heroes ;  he  felt  as  if 
he  had  been  struck  a  blow  from  which  he  would  never 
recover ;  the  feeling  he  had  for  Anna  was  so  different 
from  any  he  had  known  that  he  fancied  it  deeper  and 
truer ;  but  was  he  not  playing  the  Christian  hero  by  con 
quering  it  ?  He  had  never  felt  better  satisfied  with  him 
self  than  as  he  wrote  "Dear  Isabel"  upon  the  blank 
page,  and  his  self-respect  and  complacency  increased 
with  every  word.  He  ended  by  asking  her  to  set  their 
marriage-day  a  week  hence;  he  would  come  up  from 
Washington  on  Wednesday  morning,  and  the  wedding 
could  take  place  that  evening;  begging  in  conclusion 
that  it  might  be  as  quiet  as  possible ;  and  was  always  hers 
sincerely,  H.  Clay  Braddock. 

Was  he  not  hers  ?  He  thought,  as  he  directed  the  en 
velope,  his  whole  life  would  be  given  to  her  service,  and 
she  never  should  be  troubled  by  knowing  that  he  might 
have  married  a  woman  of  such  different  mould.  For 
there  was  the  difference  between  them  of  fine  porcelain 
and  plain  Delft.  He  was  very  fond  of  Isabel,  and  would 
give  her  the  homely,  domestic  love  which  her  homelier 
nature  craved.  So  resolving,  he  put  the  letter  in  his 
pocket-book,  to  be  mailed  at  Washington,  and  started  to 
catch  the  southern  train ;  wretched  enough  at  resigning 
Anna,  but  with  a  comfortable  enjoyment  of  his  own  mar 
tyrdom. 


JOHX   ANDROSS.  179 


CHAPTEE    XIX. 

«  ~j~  DON'T  see,  Colonel  Latimer,  what  we  can  do  to 
-  them  if  they  pay  the  tax.  It's  only  a  trick  to 
throw  me  off  the  watch,  but  they  certainly  have  been 
ordered  to  pay  it  on  every  gallon  since  Wilkins's  arrest, 
though  it  hasn't  been  done,  as  yet." 

Colonel  Latimer,  at  one  side  of  his  office  table,  sat 
watching  the  speaker,  who  stood  at  the  other — a  broad,  fat 
man  with  a  queer  cast  in  one  of  his  eyes  and  a  stubbly 
crop  of  iron-gray  hair  and  whisker. 

6  (  These  distilleries,  you  tell  me,  are  those  in  which 
Houston  Laird  owns  a  share  ?  " 

"He  is  the  principal  owner,  sir." 

"  Then  I  have  no  doubt,  Bowyer,  he  has  been  apprised 
of  this  rascality,  and  ordered  a  stop  to  be  put  to  it ;  so 
that  it  is  no  trick,  but  a  permanent  reform.  You'll  have 
no  further  trouble,  Bowyer.  Laird  is  a  man  whose  orders 
must  be  obeyed.  I  know  him.  I  know  how  outraged  he 
would  be  by  such  villany  under  his  name. " 

"  I  don't  know  him,"  rejoined  Bowyer  bluntly.  ' ( But 
them  that  do,  say  "Wilkins  is  the  honester  man  of  the 
two." 

"You  make  a  mistake  in  repeating  that  to  me,"  said 
the  colonel  with  peculiar  mildness.  "  Mr.  Laird  is  my 
friend  and  a  gentleman." 

,  Bowyer  took  off  his  hat.  He  had  forgotten  before  that 
it  was  on  his  head.  "  In  case,  sir,  however,"  he  said  in 
a  subdued  tone,  "that  I  find  Wilkins  and  the  others  are 
at  their  old  practices,  I'm  to  close  in  on  them  without 
consulting  Mr.  Laird  ?  " 

"Certainly.  Why,  I  tell  you,  Laird  will  be  as  hearty  as 
any  man  in  the  town  in  his  approval  of  your  energy.  It's 
a  personal  stigma  on  himself,  d'ye  see  ?  The  fact  is,  he 


180  JOHN   AOTROSS. 

went  into  the  distilling  business  from  good  motives — 
inistaken,  but  good." 

Bowyer  bowed,  fixing  on  his  employer  the  puzzled, 
amused  scrutiny  with  which  he  often  favored  him. 

"  I  shall  not  be  able  to  come  down  to  the  office  to-mor 
row,"  said  the  colonel  rising.  ' '  I  have  left  schedules 
for  Joseph  to  fill.  We  have  a  wedding  up  at  the  house," 
colouring  as  though  it  were  his  own.  "My  daughter 
marries.  A  gentleman  from  Washington." 

"I  hope  he  is  good  enough  for  her,"  energetically. 
Bowyer  had  a  Westerner's  disregard  of  social  distinction. 
"Sudden,  is  it  not,  Colonel?" 

"  It  has  been  a  long  time  under  consideration,"  turning 
the  key  in  his  desk.  "  Now  I  trust  to  you,  Bowyer,  to 
keep  a  sharp  lookout  on  Wilkins  and  his  confederates.  I 
wish  we  could  change  work  for  awhile.  You're  hardly 
fit  to  deal  with  those  fellows ;  it's  a  sheep  among  foxes. 
They'd  never  deceive  me.  I  know  the  ways  of  them." 

Bowyer  came  down  the  stairs  after  him  gravely ;  but 
at  the  bottom  met  one  of  his  aids  and  winked  to  him  to 
wait.  "  Houston  Laird  is  pulling  the  wool  over  the  old 
man's  eyes.  He'll  have  no  more  trouble  about  it  than  if 
he  were  a  baby.  I  mean  to  play  my  own  game  after  this. 
Laird  will  find  he  has  met  his  match.  I'd  feel  as  if  I'd 
done  one  good  job  in  my  life,  if  I  could  have  a  wrastle 
with  that  tremendous  humbug,  and  throw  him." 

His  deputy  said  nothing.  Nick  Bowyer's  honesty  was 
all  very  well ;  nobody  ever  had  doubted  that  or  his  pluck 
either ;  but  what  was  your  honesty  or  your  pluck  against 
Laird's  money  ?  "  Millions  !"  gasped  the  fellow,  thrust 
ing  his  hands  deeper  into  his  pockets. 

Colonel  Latimer  hurried  home.  His  house  was  on  one  of 
the  quiet  side  streets ;  a  large,  many-windowed  dwelling, 
set  in  an  ample  garden,  which  gave  to  the  passers-by  the 
idea  of  comfort  and  a  home.  It  had  a  wide  reputation 
already  as  one  of  the  pleasantest  houses  in  the  city  in 


JOHK   ANDKOSS.  181 

which  to  visit.  The  Latimers  were  originally  from 
Virginia,  and  descendants  of  the  Fairfaxes  and  Pages  had 
started  from  all  corners  of  the  city  to  claim  cousin  ship 
with  them  ;  old  army  officers  gathered  about  the  colonel ; 
Andross  had  brought  his  friends,  artists,  a  few  well-born 
and  bred  women,  and  three  or  four  gray-haired  old  gen 
tlemen,  who  adopted  Bell,  after  one  visit,  and  transferred 
their  chess-playing  and  musty-flavored  gossips  about 
dead  Shippens  and  Duanes,  from  the  Athenaeum  and 
Historical  Society  to  her  quiet  library.  The  young  girl 
lacked  the  beauty  of  the  belles  of  their  youth,  they 
thought ;  but  she  had  a  simple  high-breeding  which  had 
belonged  to  them.  It  brought  back  the  days  of  their 
love  and  gallantry,  as  did  the  faint  perfume  which  hung 
about  the  long  empty  flagons  on  their  dressing-tables. 
The  artists  laughed  with  her  at  her  designs ;  the  wo 
men  declared  to  her  she  followed  the  fashion  of  two 
years  before.  She  had  no  especial  wit  or  wisdom  or  ability 
on  which  to  hang  a  compliment,  yet  her  house  was  be 
sieged  every  day,  and  all  who  came  were  friends.  Of  all 
houses  it  was  the  most  hospitable  ;  guests  dropped  in  at 
breakfast,  dinner,  supper — the  colonel  and  Bell  coming 
and  going  with  the  rest ;  Oth  presiding  loftily  down 
stairs,  the  meals  well  or  ill  served  as  it  happened.  By 
and  by  a  certain  peculiarity  developed  itself  in  the  major 
ity  of  the  guests ;  people  came  there  who  went  nowhere 
else.  Lonely  old  people,  morbid  young  ones,  everybody 
whose  life  was  stinted  and  bare,  coming  once  into  the 
warm,  sunny,  disorderly  house,  and  having  once  shaken 
Bell's  large,  healthy  hand,  came  again  and  constantly. 
Andross  called  the  house  a  moral  pool  of  Bethesda,  and 
came  himself,  as  often  as  he  could  leave  Anna,  to  be 
cured.  A  certain  cousin  Arabella  Morgan  had  established 
kinship  with  the  Latimers  a  few  weeks  ago.  Out  of 
sheer  pity  for  them,  she  gave  up  her  rooms  in  her  respect 
able  boarding-house,  and  came  on  a  winter's  visit.  Her 


182  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

arrival  was  immediately  followed  by  the  rebellion  of  every 
servant  in  the  house ;  but  Cousin  Arabella  had  by  this 
time  conquered  a  peace. 

Bell,  as  usual,  was  waiting  that  afternoon  for  her 
father,  by  the  church.  "I  did  not  think  you  would 
come  for  me  to-day,  sweetheart,"  touching  her  hand 
slightly  as  she  took  his  arm.  Neither  of  them  would 
say  to  the  other  that  it  was  the  last  day  she  could 
come.  The  Latimers  seldom  expressed  feeling  that  was 
deep. 

"Cousin  Arabella,"  laughing,  "was  outraged  at  such 
a  breach  of  decorum.  I  ought  to  have  been  in-doors  for 
a  week,  she  says.  There  she  comes  !  These  are  happy 
days  for  her ;  she  finds  so  many  loose  ends,  as  she  calls 
them,  to  tie  up." 

"  She  ties  them  a  little  too  tight,"  said  the  colonel, 
shrugging  his  bony  shoulders.  "  I  wish  we  could  have 
had  our  walk  alonS  But  she  is  a  kind  soul,"  smiling 
and  bowing  as  the  little  plump  woman  bustled  up,  her 
jetty  fringes  and  little  bobs  of  glossy  ringlets  and  cheap 
purple  feather  shaking  and  dangling  together. 

"My  dear  Bell,  it  is  not  usual  for  a  young  girl  to  be 
rampaging  the  streets  at  such  a  time.  Heaven  knows 
I  scorn  etiquette ;  the  Morgans  are  well  known  as  the 
only  family  among  old  Philadelphians  who  can  dare  to  be 
Bohemian,  and  that  is  solely  owing  to  their  literary 
achievements.  /  can  set  society  at  defiance.  But  it  is  a 
very  different  case  with  you." 

A  man  muffled  in  an  overcoat  came  quickly  up  abreast 
with  them  at  the  moment.  "I  beg  your  pardon,"  nod 
ding,  "but  can  you  give  me  the  time  ?" 

Colonel  Latimer  stopped,  and,  with  anxious  courtesy, 
took  out  a  ponderous  old  watch.  "Just  six  o'clock,  my 
friend." 

"Thank  you;  I'm  making  a  train."  The  man  had 
eyed  the  colonel  eagerly  from  head  to  foot;  his  build, 


JOHK  AtfDKOSS.  183 

carnage,  height,  while  he  stood  in  front  of  him ;  he 
hastily  turned  now,  and  disappeared  down  an  alley. 

"I  hope  the  poor  fellow  won't  be  late,"  said  the 
colonel,  looking  after  him.  "He  seems  to  be  laboring 
under  some  excitement." 

(<  That  fellow  had  no  train  to  make,"  snapped  Cousin 
Arabella,  shaking  her  head.  "He  followed  you  for  two 
squares,  walking  slowly.  I  saw  him  as  I  came  to  meet 
you.  He  had  some  sinister  purpose,  Colonel  Latimer. 
He  has  the  worst  eyes  I  ever  saw." 

"  Tut,  tut  1  It  was  the  milkman  that  you  suspected 
of  being  a  heavy  villain  yesterday,  wasn't  it  ?  There  are 
not  half  the  burglars  and  rogues  in  the  world  that  you 
good  people  suspect,  Cousin  Arabella  ! " 

"  But  this  man  I  know  to  be  a  rogue  !  "  triumphantly. 
"I  knew  I  had  seen  him  before.  It  was  down  at  Cape 
May  last  summer,  and  when  an  excursion  came  down, 
Brother  Ben  told  me  to  come  out,  and  see  some  of  the 
worst  roughs  in  the  city.  I  declare  to  you,  Bell,  they 
were  in  broad-cloth,  the  latest  fashion  ;  this  man's  wife 
wore  a  brocade  silk  flounced  to  the  waist,  and  a  white 
Rabagas  bonnet  and  rubies ;  yes,  I  assure  you,  rubies,  a 
full  set — on  that  creature — and  very  fine  stones  they 
were,  for  I  made  Ben  take  me  past  her  to  be  sure  about 
them.  And  this  fellow — what  was  his  name  now  ? — Ben 
said  was  the  ringleader  of  all  the  ruffians  in  town  ; 
just  out  of  the  penitentiary,  where  he  had  been  sent  for 
burglary,  and  curiously  enough,  Colonel,  it  was  either 
your  friend,  Mr.  Andross  or  Laird,  who  got  him  out. 
They  called  him  Laird's  protege.  Voss — yes,  that  was 
the  name,  Voss.  Now,  what  grudge  can  the  fellow  have 
against  you  ?  " 

"Mr.  Laird's  position  draws  that  kind  of  idle  slander 
upon  him,"  gravely.  "  As  for  me,  set  your  mind  at  rest. 
I  haven't  an  enemy  in  the  world." 

They  walked  on  in  silence.     Bell  and  her  father  forgot 


184  JOHK   AKDROSS. 

the  incident  the  next  moment ;  the  coming  day  weighed 
heavily  on  the  old  man,  and  Bell  knew  it.  But  Cousin 
Arabella  fell  a  step  behind,  and  eyed  the  colonel  with  a 
vague  notion  of  keeping  watch  over  him.  She  had  a 
presentiment  of  danger ;  afnd  the  Morgans'  presentiments 
were  by  no  means  to  be  despised.  They  had  dabbled  in 
spiritualism,  mesmerism,  etc.,  with  gloves  on,  as  one 
might  say,  and,  according  to  Cousin  Arabella,  had  ac 
quired  thereby  a  sense  beyond  the  legal  five. 

She  intercepted  the  colonel  as  they  entered  the  house, 
and  drew  him  aside  to  the  library. 

"Now  here's  the  paper  of  ' day's  duties,'"  drawing  it 
out.  "  You  know  I  always  make  one  out  every  morning, 
and  tick  off  each  as  it  is  done.  You'd  find  such  a  system 
invaluable  in  your  business,  Colonel." 

"I  don't  doubt  it." 

"  First,  Bell's  clothes.  Of  course  a  proper  trousseau 
is  a  hopeless  matter  with  a  week's  notice,  but  everything 
essential  is  in  now  but  stockings,  and  as  for  bonnets —  " 

"  That  will  all  come  right.  I  really  wish  to  talk  to 
Isabel " 

"About  the  supper  ?  Oh  !  that's  all  arranged.  I  have 
the  bill  of  fare  regularly  made  out.  But  what  I  wanted 
to  speak  to  you  about  was  the  guests.  Half  a  hundred 
people  will  feel  hurt  if  you  neglect  them." 

"  I'd  like  to  have  them  all — everybody  I  know,"  and  the 
colonel's  hospitable  soul  heaved  a  sigh.  "  But,  you  know, 
Dr.  Braddock  especially  requested  a  private  wedding. " 

"  That  is  the  point.  Wtiy  did  he  suggest  it  ?  Heaven 
forbid  I  should  suggest  an  unworthy  doubt,  but  the 
young  man's  course  is  exceedingly  suspicious.  I  love 
Isabel,  Colonel,"  her  florid  face  growing  redder — "the 
child  has  no  mother,  and  you  know  so  little  of  the  ways 
of  the  world— 

The  colonel  bowed  laughing. 

"  Oh !  it's  true !    Why,  everybody  down  to  rats  and 


JOHN"   ANDBOSS.  185 

beggars  were  devouring  your  income  till  I  came.  You're 
no  more  fitted  to  take  care  of  yourselves  than  the  babes 
in  the  wood.  It  behooves  me  to  keep  a  sharp  eye  about 
me,  and  I've  fixed  it  on  Dr.  Braddock.  This  marrying 
at  a  week's  notice — none  of  the  Morgans  would  risk  of 
fending  public  opinion  to  that  extent,  much  as  they 
trampled  on  conventionality.  Such  haste  and  secrecy! 
It  looks  as  if  he  were  afraid.  What  story  was  that  Judge 
Maddox  told  about  a  missing  six  thousand  dollars  ?" 

"  Braddock  referred  to  that  most  satisfactorily  in  a  let 
ter  which  I  received  to-day. .  He  had  lent  the  money  to  a 
friend,  and  was  in  hopes  it  would  soon  be  returned." 

Miss  Morgan  began  to  untie  her  bonnet  strings  with  a 
jerk. 

"  Of  course  it's  all  right !  I've  no  wish  to  wrong  the 
young  man.  I  have  never  even  seen  him.  I've  no  right 
to  exact  more  for  your  daughter  than  you  do;  but  the 
present  generation  of  men  make  love  and  marry  in  a  free 
and  easy  manner — throw  the  handkerchief  I  might  say, 
in  a  way  unknown  to  our  days,  Colonel.  Bell,  foolish 
child,  in  her  joy  at  his  letter,  showed  it  to  me.  /thought 
it  arrogant ;  taking  it  for  granted  she  was  waiting,  with 
all  her  spring  dresses  made,  for  the  sign  to  marry  him  ! 
I  should  never  have  consented  without  time  to  send  for  a 
proper  veil,  at  least." 

"You  did  not  consider  that  the  letter  showed  proper 
affection  for  Bell?"  anxiously.  "I  thought  the  young 
man  was  deeply  moved.  Clay  is  not  demonstrative." 

"  Moved  by  something  else  than  love  for  Bell,"  nodding 
shrewdly.  "I  have  given  you  warning.  You  ought  to 
make  inquiry  as  to  his  habits ;  to  keep  a  sharp  watch  on 
him  if  they  are  married." 

"Where  the  Latimers  trust,  they  trust  wholly,"  the 
colonel  said  quietly.  "I  can  not  give  my  daughter  to  a 
man  as  his  wife  one  day,  and  follow  him  like  a  policeman 
the  next." 


186  JOHK   ANDKOSS. 


CHAPTEE    XX. 

southern  train  halted  in  the  Philadelphia  depot 
the  next  morning  long  enough  for  an  erect,  prim 
man  to  step  off,  which  he  did,  deliberately.  It  was 
Braddock,  who,  as  we  know,  in  his  normal  condition, 
was  a  cheerful,  business-like  fellow ;  but  now  he  looked 
about  him  as  if  ready  to  offer  to  the  sun  or  wind  or  even 
the  freight-master  a  cowed,  miserable  apology  for  cum 
bering  the  earth.  He  had  been  talking  to  himself  all 
night,  recounting  his  generosity  toward.  Andross,  his 
honourable  dealing  with  Bell,  assuring  himself  that  he 
loved  her  —  loved  her  purely,  tenderly  as  he  did  his 
mother,  the  mountains  where  he  was  born,  his  religion — 
that  his  passion  for  Anna  was  a  mad,  unclean  frenzy. 

But  all  would  not  do.  He  felt  dishonoured  in  every 
drop  of  his  blood ;  he  had  no  relish  for  his  mother  or  the 
mountains  or  domestic  bliss  just  then ;  he  had  not  drunk 
the  cup  of  passion,  and  he  wanted  to  do  it ;  he  was  the 
Prodigal,  forced  back  to  the  tedious  elder  brother  and 
insipid  fatted  calf  before  he  had  tasted  of  the  riotous 
living,  or  proved  how  bitter  were  the  husks  which  the 
swine  did  eat.  All  night,  Anna,  her  cloying  amiabilities, 
looks,  and  gestures  that  had  brought  her  beauty  close  to 
him,  the  very  tones  of  her  shrill  voice,  had  been  present 
with  him,  clung  about  him,  stifled  him  like  a  delicious 
nightmare. 

Outside  of  the  car  the  keen  wind  of  dawn  woke  him 
from  his  passionate  torpor ;  the  night  mists  yet  lay  on 
the  river  and  shipping  as  he  crossed  the  bridge ;  the  wind 
blew  in  his  face,  full  of  gusts  of  glistening  frost;  he 
passed  down  the  vacant  street  through  stately  rows  of 
silent  dwellings,  their  brown  stone  carvings  greened  and 
softened  by  the  winter's  damp.  In  daylight  this  street 
always  taunted  Braddock  with  his  poverty ;  it  was  aggres- 


THEY  FLUTTERED  FEARLESSLY   ALL  ABOUT  HER.       SHE  AND  THEY  SEEM 
ED  TO  BELONG  TO  THE  BRIGHT,  PUBE  MORNING. 


JOHN   ANDROSS.  189 

sive  with  wealth.  Now  there  was  nothing  in  it  but  noble 
form,  and  the  beauty  of  the  coming  day.  The  bare  trees 
of  Kittenhouse  square  lengthened  in  the  shadows  into 
interminable  aisles  with  black,  high,  fine-lined  arches; 
where  he  had  been  used  to  plough  through  dust,  lay  the 
white  sheet  of  untrodden  snow ;  where  liveried  carriages 
had  wheeled  mud  in  his  face  only  the  mist  rolled,  full  of 
golden  light.  There  was  but  a  solitary  figure  in  the  dis 
tance,  a  lady,  tall  and  slight,  and  of  singularly  noble 
carriage.  She  had  stopped  below  the  trees  near  the  hun 
dreds  of  sparrows  which  were  pecking  the  grain  that 
some  kindly  soul  had  sprinkled  on  the  snow.  They  flut 
tered  fearlessly  all  about  her.  She  and  they  seemed  to 
belong  to  the  bright,  pure  morning,  Braddock  thought, 
in  his  heated  fancy,  and  when  she  came  up  to  him  out  of 
the  golden  mist,  he  thought  so  still.  Surely  in  all  these 
multitudes  of  people  there  was  not  another  face  so  clear 
or  happy.  It  succeeded  Anna's  as  did  the  morning  air  to 
the  hot  atmosphere  of  the  car.  He  hurried  to  her. 

"  It  is  you,  Bell !  What  are  you  doing  here  ?" 

"I  came  to  meet  you,  Clay,"  holding  out  her  hands. 
"Are  you  not  glad  to  see  me  ?"  after  awaiting  moment. 

"Certainly;  how  can  you  ask  such  a  question  ?  Only 
I  did  not  expect  to  meet  you  here,"  with  a  grave  hint  of 

rebuke  in  his  voice.  "Is  it  usual ?  What  will 

people  say  ?  " 

"How  can  I  tell?"  laughing  softly.  "I  know  that 
I  am  here." 

He  drew  her  hand  in  his  arm.  "When  he  did  not  speak 
of  his  errand,  she  began  to  talk — to  cover  her  shy  happiness. 

"  See  the  birds,  Clay — how  hungry  and  tame  they  are  ! 
They  were  brought  from  England  for  these  trees.  They 
are  not  our  great  Nittany  trees.  But  look  at  them  how 
they  glitter  in  the  frost." 

"  I  can  only  look  at  you  ! "  energetically.  "  You  are  a 
woman  that  I  never  knew  ! " 


190  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

"I  can  not  have  changed  so  much  in  four  months," 
hastily. 

Miss  Latimer  had  her  own  feeling  about  love;  how 
that  it  was  a  fine,  subtle  kinship;  how  that  no  change  of 
body,  even  the  going  to  another  world,  could  touch  it. 
Yet  here  was  her  lover  criticising  her  precisely  as  a 
stranger  would  !  She  knew  that  every  thought  of  a  true 
wife  and  husband  were  known  to  each  other,  their  very 
souls  became  as  one ;  yet  now  her  husband  stood  apart  as 
though  totally  alien  to  her,  with  a  half  alarmed  inspec 
tion  of  her  face,  her  very  dress.  But  Bell  never  had  yet 
put  her  theories  or  her  love  into  words  for  Braddock ; 
she  walked  on  in  almost  unbroken  silence,  often  replying 
to  him  only  in  a  sudden,  sweet  little  laugh,  which  meant 
far  more  than  words,  and  was,  like  her  dress  and  her 
look,  new  and  startling  to  him. 

"When  they  reached  the  house  she  ran  up  the  steps  be 
fore  him,  throwing  back  the  fur  hood  as  she  looked 
down.  "I  hoped  that  perhaps  you  would  ask  me  to  go 
wandering  about  all  day  in  search  of  adventures  ;  there 
are  such  queer  solitary  places  about  Philadelphia;  and 
then  all  our  lives  we  could  say,  we  went  here  or  there  on 
our  wedding  journey ;  and  in  the  evening  we  would  have 
come  in  and  been  married.  I  should  have  liked  that ! 
But  now  there  will  be  veils  and  supper  and  trunks  in 
stead!" 

"You  always  had  a  drop  of  vagabond  blood  that  I 
lacked,  Isabel,"  smiling  with  a  good  deal  of  his  old  fond 
ness  down  on  her.  But  at  heart  he  regarded  her  with 
something  very  different  from  that  humdrum  affection  ; 
a  surprise  and  alarm  which  drove  the  thought  of  Anna 
away  for  the  moment.  This  was  not  the  Isabel  he  used 
to  know ;  something  about  her  impressed  him  as  a  fine 
strain  of  music  does  a  man  who  is  not  educated  to  under 
stand  it,  or  a  wide  landscape  one  whose  eye  would  grasp 
it  all,  but  can  not. 


^  AJTDROSS.  191 


"You,  at  least,  I  thought,  belonged  to  me,"  following^ 
her  into  her  sewing-room. 

She  seated  him  in  her  own  chair  ;  the  fire  blazed  on 
the  hearth  ;  the  morning  light  shone  in  at  his  back  ;  his 
feet  rested  on  the  bear  skin  she  had  brought  from  Nit- 
tany.  There  he  was  at  last,  her  household  god,  her  own 
private  and  particular  joss,  safe  from  any  other  woman's 
worship  than  her  own  ! 

For  how  many  years  had  she  prayed  for  him  every 
morning,  blushing,  though  she  did  not  utter  his  name  ! 
There  was  no  need  .  for  her  now  to  blush  ;  this  morning 
her  Master  had  answered  her  prayers.  But  Isabel,  like 
other  big-natured  people,  had  no  petty  coquetry  of  lids 
and  lips  ;  there  was  no  way  to  guess  at  the  deep  delight 
of  the  loyal  creature  except  the  kindling  of  her  slow  fine 
face.  She  stood  off  at  the  other  side  of  the  fire-place, 
not  looking  at  him. 

"There  is  one  thing  I  ought  to  confess  to  you,  Clay," 
a  laugh  trembling  about  her  mouth.  "I  doubted  you, 
once.  It  seems  absurd  to  me  now.  Just  like  a  child  !  " 

"You  heard  some  story  about  money?"  frowning. 

"Yes,  but  that  was  nonsense,  of  course.  •  My  trouble 
was  about  Anna.  I  absolutely  hated  the  poor  little  crea 
ture.  I  was  so  long  alone,  and  you  wrote  so  seldom.  I 
know  you  had  not  time,"  eagerly. 

Braddock  .stood  up.  "  Miss  Maddox  is  nothing  to  us 
now,  Isabel." 

"  I  knew  that  when  your  letter  came,"  gravely. 

But  it  never  entered  into  his  head  to  go  into  the  con 
fessional,  and  never  would. 

There  were  no  tea-roses  in  this  room,  no  canaries  nor 
faint  perfume  ;  only  the  big  fire  burning  briskly,  and  the 
fresh  daylight  and  the  woman  with  an  unfamiliar  fine 
face  standing  apart  from  him.  If  he  could  get  out  of 
this  fog  that  was  about  him  back  to  the  daylight  and 
Bell  again  ! 


192  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

He  went  across  the  bear  skin  presently,  and  took  her 
hand.  "  I  have  been  but  a  dull  lover,  Isabel." 

"I  did  not  think  that,  Clay."  At  his  first  touch  a 
soft  warmth  reddened  her  firm  flesh. 

There  was  a  knock  at  the  door.  Oth  came  in,  a  pre 
ternatural  solemnity  struggling  to  overcome  his  delighted 
grin  at  sight  of  "  de  bride  and  groom." 

"Doctor  Braddock,  sah— yes,  sah.  Fse  quite  well; 
town  agrees  wid  me  fuss-rate — it's  a  telegram  foh  you, 
sah." 

He  tore  it  open.  "  Come  to  me  at  once.  A  great  dan 
ger  threatens  me  which  you  can  avert. — A.'9 

"Is  it  bad  news?  is  it  from  your  mother,  Clay?" 
watching  him  as  he  refolded  the  paper  and  slowly  put  it 
in  his  pocket. 

"It  is — a  poor  woman  who  is  in  trouble  which  she 
thinks  I  can  help.  I  can  not  go  to  her.  This  is  the  day 
on  which  I  came  to  marry  you.7' 

"How  far  would  you  have  to  go  ?"  asked  practical  Bell. 

"Only  a  few  squares.     Do  not  speak  of  it  again." 

He  took  her  hand  again  mechanically ;  but  there  was  a 
strained  unwonted  look  in  his  eyes  that  startled  her. 
"If  the  poor  creature  needs  you,  go  to  her,  Clay.  I  can 
spare  you  for  an  hour  or  two,  as  you  are  going  to  be  mine 
all  of  your  life,"  smiling. 

"I  shall  not  go,"  almost  fiercely.  "I  am  here  now. 
What  do  you  drive  me  away  for  ?  This  is  our  wedding- 
day.  I  think  you  are  mad  to  drive  me  from  you." 

Poor  Clay !  No  doubt,  she  thought,  he  was  nervous 
from  overwork  and  loss  of  sleep.  "Very  well,"  she  said, 
cheerfully.  "  We  will  hope  that  she  exaggerates  her  need 
of  you.  Only  do  not  look  so  anxious  about  her." 

"  She  is  not  a  woman  who  exaggerates ;  I  know  what 
I  can  do  for  her,  but  my  place  is  here." 

He  might  sacrifice  himself,  but  Bell  should  not  wrong 
the  little  creature  who  loved  him  so  hopelessly. 


"COME  TO  MB  AT  ONCE.   A  GREAT  DANGER  THREATENS  ME  WHICH 
YOU  CAN  AVERT.— A." 


JOHN  AKDEOSS.  195 

Another  knock.     Oth  again  at  the  door. 

"  A  lady,  sah,  to  speak  with  you.  Won't  leave  de  car 
riage,  sah." 

Doctor  Braddock  followed  him  hastily  to  the  street, 
where  a  close,  shabby  hack  stood  before  the  door.  In 
five  minutes  he  came  into  the  room  again,  labouring 
under  some  uncontrolled  excitement. 

"  She  is  there.  I  must  go,  Isabel,"  stopping  short  on 
the  other  side  of  the  hearth.  "  There  is  danger — of — 
danger " 

"Danger  of  what?" 

"  Oh  !  God  knows.  It  is  all  a  horrible — horrible  mud 
dle."  He  held  his  clasped  hands  up  to  his  mouth,  and 
stared  at  her  irresolutely  over  them,  then  turned  sud 
denly  to  the  door. 

"  When  will  you  be  back,  Clay  ?    In  an  hour  ?" 

"Yes,  in  an  hour,"  vacantly;  "but  why  should  I  go 
at  all  ?  What  can  I  do  ?"  He  went  out  without  a  word 
or  look  of  good-bye. 

Poor  Clay  !  thought  Isabel  again.  Never  was  there  so 
sensitive  a  nature ;  the  grief  of  this  poor  creature,  who 
ever  she  might  be,  had  made  him  half  crazed,  as  though 
it  were  his  own.  She  rang  the  bell,  and  ordered  Oth  to 
keep  back  the  breakfast  for  an  hour.  Doctor  Braddock 
had  been  called  away  by  sudden  business.  When  they 
were  married,  she  would  stand  between  him  and  such 
appeals — so  she  went  on  with  her  revery — and  take  the 
brunt  of  pain  from  him.  As  she  sat  alone  for  the  next 
hour  looking  in  the  wood  fire,  she  smiled  once  or  twice 
to  herself,  thinking  how  jealous  she  would  have  been  a 
few  months  ago  if  any  woman  had  so  carried  off  her 
lover.  She  had  outgrown  such  notions  since  she  came 
to  town,  .and  had  been  drawn  out  of  her  shell,  as  Miss 
Morgan  often  put  it ;  adding  that  a  change  of  food  and 
air  was  as  wholesome  for  the  brain  as  the  digestive 
organs. 


196  JOHN   A2STDRO3S. 

Breakfast  was  served  and  eaten. 

"I  thought,"  said  Cousin  Arabella,  marvellous  in  the 
freshness  of  purple  ribbons  and  jet  fringes,  "  that  Doctor 
Braddock,  probably,  would  have  been  here  on  the  early 
train." 

"Bless  me,  I  forgot  the  lad!"  cried  the  colonel; 
"He'll  be  here  by  noon,  all  right !"  He  talked  so  fast 
and  energetically  of  a  dozen  things  at  once,  that  Bell  had 
no  room  for  explanation. 

The  baggage  must  be  ready  for  expressage  by  five,  as 
they  would  go  through  this  tomfoolery  of  a  wedding 
journey;  the  old  Virginia  customs  were  best,  etc.,  etc., 
his  eyes  fixed  on  Bell,  with  a  quiet  sadness  and  hunger, 
oddly  belying  his  jerky,  impatient  sentences,  which  often 
ended  half  spoken.  He  was  losing  Bell.  Baggage  or 
wedding  journey  or  Braddock  himself  were  mere  surface 
trifles  in  the  colonel's  brain  compared  to  that.  When 
the  noon  train  was  in  and  Doctor  Braddock  did  not  ap 
pear,  however,  he  became,  as  usual,  immeasurably  anx 
ious  and  restless,  and  coming  bustling  in  to  console 
Isabel,  was  amazed  to  find  her  composedly  mending  his 
old  coat,  her  cheeks  unusually  rosy,  and  eyes  clear. 

"I  knew  Cousin  Arabella  would  forget  it,  and  you 
would  miss  it  before  I  came  back,"  snipping  off  the 
threads. 

"  Thank  you,  my  dear.  I'm  exceedingly  anxious  about 
Clay,  Bell.  The  train  has  been  in  for  an  hour.  I'm 
going  to  telegraph." 

ie  Clay  is  a  more  impetuous  lover  than  you  think," 
with  a  shy  smile,  telling  her  story  as  she  folded  up  the 
coat,  and  ending  with,  "Now  I  shall  go  and  dress,  so 
that  we  can  all  be  together  when  he  comes."  She  pleased 
herself  with  thinking  how  impatient  he  would  be  with 
the  poor  creature,  and  her  grief  which  detained  him. 
What  other  man  would  make  such  a  noble  sacrifice  on 
his  wedding-day  ?  If  the  Women's  Club,  whose  president 


JOHN   ANDROSS.  19? 

Mr.  Ware  had  introduced  to  her,  only  knew  Clay  Brad- 
dock,  they  would  hold  very  different  opinions  on  the 
marriage  question,  and  the  proper  authority  of  a  husband 
over  a  wife ! 

The  day  had  proved  rainy,  the  golden  mists  going 
down  into  clammy  fog  that  clung  to  the  outside  of 
Isabel's  window,  as  she  bathed  and  made  herself  fair  for 
her  lover ;  nothing  could  be  heard  but  the  dull  patter  of 
the  rain  on  the  panes,  and  the  jingle  of  car  bells,  and 
tramp  of  the  horses  in  the  muddy  street. 

Miss  Morgan  bustled  in.  "Well,  well!  Here's  four 
o'clock.  The  supper's  all  arranged,  and  the  carriage 
ready  to  go  for  Dr.  Croly.  Why,  Bell,  how  bright  and 

sweet  your  room  is,  and  you "  surveying  her  from 

head  to  foot  at  arm's  length.  The  little  old  maid  had  a 
mother's  heart  in  her  bosom ;  she  put  her  hands  softly 
on  Bell's  head  and  drew  it  to  her  breast.  "  There,  I'll 
leave  the  kiss  for  your  husband.  I'll  not  take  it." 

She  went  out,  moved  in  spite  of  herself.  She  could 
not  utter  a  word  of  her  suspicions  of  Braddock,  or  her 
wrath  at  the  disrespect  implied  in  his  delay,  or  the  other 
thousand  remarks  with  which  she  effervesced ;  she  was 
usually  a  little  afraid  of  Bell,  as  a  woman  of  stronger 
brain  and  better  culture  than  her  own ;  but  the  girl  to 
day,  in  her  simplicity  and  happy  faith  in  her  lover,  was 
so  like  an  innocent  child,  so  different  from  shrewd  city 
women,  that  Miss  Morgan  had  not  the  heart  to  hurt  her. 

She  went  down  to  the  parlours  and  supper-room,  already 
lighted  and  filled  with  flowers,  and  there  hid  her  rage. 

An  hour  later,  Oth,  the  delighted  grin  quite  gone  from 
his  mouth,  and  his  wrinkled  face  under  the  gray  hair  as 
grave  as  his  master's,  tapped  softly  at  the  door  of  the 
room,  where  Colonel  Latimer  sat  waiting  for  Isabel.  She 
came  in  by  another  door,  as  she  heard  the  knock. 

"Has  he  come  ?"  glancing  from  one  to  the  other. 

The  old  man  lifted  both  hands.     "  De  Lohd  bless  de 


198  JOHN   Atf  DROSS. 

chile  !  "When  I  used  to  ride  de  little  gull  on  my  knee  to 
Babylon,  neber  tought  to  see  dat  lubly  face  and  de  bride's 
dress,  all  train  and  lace  ! " 

The  colonel,  whom  Miss  Morgan  had  driven  to  dress  in 
his  full  uniform,  stood  up  straightening  his  cuffs.  "I 
thought  you  came  to  say  Doctor  Braddock  had  arrived." 

"No,  sah,"  lowering  his  voice  and  carefully  closing 
the  door.  "Fact  is,  when  I  saw  de  lady  in  de  car'age 
dis  mornin'  I  mistrusted  somefin.  She  was  veiled,  but 
I  knowed  her.  It  was  Miss  Maddox,  and  /  neber  put 
no  stock  in  dat  ar,  sah."  He  turned  his  back  to  his 
young  mistress,  with  a  delicate  wish  not  to  see  her 
face,  and  went  on  hurriedly.  "  Dis  aft'noon  I  escaped 
from  Miss  Arabel's  sight  and  I  goes  down  to  Judge  Mad- 
dox's,  and  dey  tells  me  dar  dat  Doctor  Braddock  wid 
Miss  Anna  took  the  noon  train  to  Harrisburgh.  De  judge 
am  out  of  town  too,  an'  not  to  be  back  until  to-morrow." 

"Doctor  Braddock  left  a  message  ?"  said  the  colonel. 

"  No,  sah.     I  inquired  particular,  but  dah  was  none." 

"  He  has  telegraphed,  and  it  has  been  delayed  at  the 
office.  You  can  go,  Oth,  I'm  very  much  obliged  to  you, 
my  good  fellow,"  said  the  colonel  quietly.  He  had  no 
intention  of  subjecting  his  daughter  to  the  pity  of  even 
this  old  servant.  When  the  door  closed  again  he  took 
her  in  his  arms  :  "  You've  come  back  to  me  again,  child ; 
that  is  all." 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

MISS  MADDOX  had  not  ventured  on  her  errand  to 
Dr.    Braddock  alone,  or  without  premeditation. 
The  judge  had  had  his  usual  whist  party  the  night  be 
fore.     Anna  had  chosen  to  set  up  her  work-table  in  the 
^  corner  of  the  room,  where  she  could  listen  to  the  political 


JOHtf   ASTDBOSS.  199 

discussions  which  interrupted  the  game,  toy  with  her 
silks  and  crewels,  or  grow  confidential  with  the  two  or 
three  men  lounging  about  her,  at  her  pleasure.  When 
the  cards  were  thrown  aside  and  the  voices  about  the 
table  grew  more  eager  and  repressed,  she  got  up,  fluttered 
over  to  her  father,  and  perched  herself,  blushes,  lace, 
tags  of  ribbon  and  all,  on  the  elbow  of  his  chair.  M.  de 
Mille,  the  French  journalist  whom  Ware  had  in  charge 
that  evening,  hastily  rose  and  would  have  led  her  to  the 
piano. 

"They  talk  but  of  affairs,"  he  earnestly  assured  her; 
whereat  Anna  shook  her  head  saucily,  and  sat  still.  Her 
whim  that  evening  was  to  understand  these  very 
"affairs"  ;  as  she  had  already  heard  Andross's  name  once 
or  twice  in  the  discussion. 

"There  is  no  staving  off  the  bill  later  than  to-morrow 
evening,"  said  General  Ealston,  tapping  with  the  pack  of 
cards  on  the  table  to  mark  his  words  :  "and  do  what  you 
will,  the  vote  on  it  will  be,  if  not  a  tie,  the  closest  this 
session.  One  vote  will  probably  win  or  lose  it." 

"  Mr.  Laird  knows  that,"  remarked  Ware,  drawing  out 
his  thick  beard  through  his  hand  admiringly.  "  He  has 
had  Ned  Willitts  up  there  lobbying  for  a  week." 

"  It  behooves  him  to  lobby,"  said  the  general.  "  If 
the  bill  is  lost,  Laird's  great  Transit  scheme  will  shrivel 
up  like  a  bladder  that  has  been  pricked.  He  ought  to 
have  drilled  the  tools  of  his  King  better  than  he  has  that 
fellow  Andross,  before  he  allowed  his  fortune  to  hinge  on 
their  votes  on  a  single  measure." 

"  He  can  do  as  he  pleases  with  his  own  money ;  but  he 
had  no  right  to  drag  other  men  into  such  a  hobble,"  said 
Judge  Maddox.  Something  in  the  judge's  tone  made  the 
other  men  look  at  him,  and  then  glance  significantly  at 
each  other.  He  had  been  noticeably  quiet  all  evening ; 
his  usual  leaky  dribble  of  talk  having  ebbed  down  into  an 
occasional  curt,  snappish  sentence.  They  noticed  that 


200  JOHtf  AXDROSS. 

his  daughter,  too,  sitting  poised  like  a  pet  hird  beside 
him,  turned  quickly  at  his  words,  with  an  odd  change  on 
her  pretty  face,  and  put  her  hand  on  his.  The  rumour 
was  true,  then,  that  Maddox  had  risked  all  he  had  in  this 
scheme  of  Laird's,  and  would  in  all  probability  be  ruined 
by  the  non-passage  of  the  bill  ? 

There  was  an  awkward  silence  for  a  moment,  which 
nobody  was  able  to  break  with  tact,  when,  to  the  aston 
ishment  of  M.  de  Mille,  at  least,  the  bird-like  little  girl 
began  to  chirp. 

"  If  I  understand  this  tiresome  talk,  you  all  want  a 
bill  or  an  act  or  something  to  pass  to-morrow  night  ?" 
looking  at  General  Ealston. 

He  nodded  gruffly. 

"And  one  vote  will  count  for  a  good  deal?  I  think  / 
can  manage  it  for  you ;  ah,  papa  ? "  putting  her  arm 
about  his  neck. 

General  Ealston  threw  down  the  cards  impatiently.  "I 
would  not  encourage  my  child  in  that  style  of  talking, 
Maddox.  We've  enough  of  it  from  petticoated  brokers 
and  reformers.  You  ought  to  have  sense  enough  to  keep 
your  little  head  steady  on  your  waltzes  and  dresses,  Anna. 
A  woman's  strength  lies  in  her  feminity." 

( '  Nevertheless,  I  shall  pass  the  bill  for  you,  General, 
while  you  sit  growling  at  home,"  clapping  her  hands  and 
laughing  like  a  baby.  "  Be  good  enough  to  ring  for  me, 
monsieur  ; "  and  when  the  servant  appeared  at  the  door  : 
"  Order  a  hack  to  be  at  the  door  by  seven  o'clock  to-morrow 
morning,"  she  said,  with  a  sharp  little  nod  of  command. 
"No,  papa,  my  own  carriage  would  not  do;  this  is  a 
particularly  private  business  of  mine.  We  will  have  some 
music  now,  if  you  choose,  Monsieur  de  Mille  ; "  and  in  a 
moment  she  was  rattling  over  the  keys  in  a  fashion 
which  made  Ware — who  had  a  sensitive  ear — shiver. 

M.  de  Mille*  left  the  house  with  him  soon  after.  "But 
your  American  women  take  the  breath  from  me  every 


JOHN   ANDBOSS.  201 

Ti 

day  ! "  he  exclaimed.  "  In  France  this  young  lady  would 
be  with  the  good  sisters,  learning  the  music  or  bead-work, 
and  here  she  sets  out  alone  to  cajole  the  state  Cham 
bers  I" 

"Not  so  bad  as  that,"  said  Ware  uneasily.  "She  has 
one  or  two  lovers  there  whose  votes  she  may  influence. " 

"Ah  ?  I  understood  from  the  Judge  Maddox  that  his 
daughter  was,  as  you  say,  betrothed  to  that  Monsieur 
Bislow  ;  a  man  of  large  estate,  as  I  heard.  It  appeared 
to  me  a  very  suitable  marriage.  The  young  lady  could 
expect  wealth ;  she  has  a  good  dot,  they  tell  me,  and, 
without  doubt,  great  beauty." 

Ware's  usual  fluency  had  deserted  him ;  he  made  no 
reply. 

"  Probably  you  do  not  recall  this,  Monsieur  Bislow  ? 
A  fat  man,  with  the  hair  quite  gray." 

"  I  know  the  fellow  well  enough.  He  is  old  enough  to 
be  her  father." 

"So  much  the  better,"  lifting  his  eyebrows.  "He 
will  be  the  better  guardian.  Madame  Bislow  shall  not 
hire  the  hack  and  go  away  to  cajole  the  Chambers,  that  I 
will  bet  with  you,  if  you  please.  But  these  things  are  not 
incroyable  to  us  of  Paris,  monsieur.  We  know  the  Amer 
ican  ladies.  Why,  one,  I  shall  not  say  her  name,  finds 
her  husband  unable  to  yield  the  support  to  her,  and  she 
buys  of  a  poor  Berliner  the  patent  for  an  engine  which  he 
invents,  sells  it  again  for  sums  enormous  to  the  city 
governments  in  France,  England,  here,  to  use  in  the  , 
water  works.  Young — a  mere  child,  monsieur !  With 
cheeks  like  the  rose  !  Peddles  her  engines  here — there  ! 
Talks  ?  Ah  !  men  Dieu !  how  she  talks  !  how  they  all 
talk!" 

But  Ware  made  no  defence  of  his  countrywomen ;  they 
had  reached  a  street  corner,  and  he  bade  the  garrulous 
Frenchman  a  curt  good-night,  and  turned  off  uncivilly 
enough.  The  case  was  clear  to  M.  de  Mille  !  Ware  was 


202  JOHi*  AXDROSS. 

one  of  the  victims  of  this  insatiate  little  huntress,  whose 
game  was  man.  She  might  have  spared  this  poor  wretch, 
he  thought,  with  an  amused  smile ;  empty  pockets  were 
hard  enough  to  bear  without  an  aching  heart. 

Ware  was  in  reality  so  much  discomposed  by  some 
chance  word  of  de  Mille's,  that  he  went  back  to  Judge 
Maddox's,  and  entering  the  hall  abruptly,  caught  sight 
of  Anna  sitting  in  a  shaded  corner,  blushing  and  sweet, 
with  all  the  weight  of  Mr.  Bislow's  ponderous  and  amor 
ous  regards  upon  her.  Mr.  Ware  walked  directly  to  her 
side,  and  stood  there  in  the  attitude,  and  with  the  gravity 
of  a  footman.  Oddly  enough,  Miss  Maddox  did  not  flut 
ter  into  one  of  her  pretty  vixenish  passions  at  this  marked 
rudeness,  but  became  suddenly  speechless  and  motionless, 
with  an  expression  on  her  face  of  a  much  older  woman 
than  she  had  ever  seemed  before.  It  startled  Mr.  Bislow 
as  much  as  the  advent  of  the  very  uncivil  young  man  at 
his  back,  and  as  he  was  a  man  who  carefully  shunned 
both  emotions  or  uncivility,  he  rose  and  took  leave  of 
Anna ;  the  leave-taking  being  no  less  impressive  or  affec 
tionate  for  Ware's  presence. 

Ware,  who  was  in  one  of  the  dumb  rages  which  his 
fellow-workmen  in  the  blacksmith  shop  used  to  dread, 
did  not  break  the  ominous  silence,  and  Anna,  for  the  first 
time  in  her  life,  was  apparently  ill  at  ease,  and  insecure 
of  her  pecking,  chirping  self.  She  fidgeted  on  the  sofa, 
pulled  at  her  lace  sleeves,  glanced  up  atliim  timidly. 

"Mr.  Bislow  was  remonstrating  with  me  about  my 
bringing  votes  for  that  bill :  such  a  wise,  fatherly  old 
man  as  he  is  I  The  principal  idea  I  used  to  have  of  him 
was,  Fat.  Yes,  indeed,"  giggling,  "but  when  one  is 
intimate  with  him,  his  good  qualities  come  out.  In 
ternal  qualities,  I  mean.  I  really  never  think  now  how 
much  he  weighs." 

"I  was  told  just  now  that  your  father  had  promised 
you  should  marry  him." 


JOHN  ANDROSS.  203 

Anna  made  no  answer ;  the  colour  went  slowly  out  of 
her  little  pinched  face,  her  mouth  stood  weakly  open  as 
she  looked  up  at  him.  Whatever  secret  hold  or  power 
the  man  had  over  her,  he  was  not  moved,  apparently,  to 
relax  it,  by  any  pity  or  sympathy. 

"I  believe  in  my  soul  you  are  sincere  in  your  feeling 
for  that  mass  of  flesh,"  scanning  her  coolly.  "  I  used  to 
think  you  were  only  a  clever  little  actress,  when  you  led 
a  dozen  men  to  believe  you  were  in  love  with  each  one  of 
them.  But  you  mean  it ;  you  are  like  an  oyster.  You 
cling  to  the  first  solid  substance  that  touches  you.  And 
you  are  just  as  bloodless  and  as  cold." 

Still  no  hint  of  resentment  from  her ;  her  red  lips 
opened  and  shut  once  or  twice,  irresolutely,  before  she 
spoke. 

"  Then  you  don't  think  as  Mr.  Bislow  does  of  my  try 
ing  to  pass  that  bill  ?" 

"  The  bill !  Fd  be  very  glad  if  the  bill  was  passed.  I 
have  some  shares  in  the  National  Transit  myself.  But 
what  can  you  do  ?  Wheedle  that  poor  fool,  Andross  ?" 

The  very  tone  of  Ware's  voice,  coarse  and  direct,  was 
so  different  from  the  caressing  softness  with  which  all 
men  addressed  Anna,  that  it  attracted  curious  glances 
from  the  other  side  of  the  room.  She  looked  up  at  him 
scared,  imploring,  trying  to  don  again  her  poor  little 
tricks  of  archness  and  coquetry. 

"No,  no,  I  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  poor  Jack. 
I  have  a  better  plan  than  that :  I  will  bring  Doctor  Brad- 
dock  to  work  upon  him.  Braddock  makes  up  the  larger 
half  of  Andross's  religion.  Oh  !  it's  a  very  complete  plan 
I  have,  I  assure  you  !"  nodding  complacently. 

"You  can  do  nothing  with  Braddock,"  he  growled. 
"  He's  to  be  married  to-morrow." 

"I  know  that!"  Her  whole  face  and  figure  dilated 
and  glowed  radiant.  {e  I  mean  to  bring  him  here  to  do 
as  I  wish,  if  he  has  been  married  but  an  hour !  That  log 


204  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

of  ^  woman  shall  see  what  power  I  have,  silly  child  as 

she  calls  me  !  You,  too  ! "  rising  with  a  feeble  little 

cackle  of  defiance.  "  There  are  men  who  would  not  hold 
me  in  this  miserable  bondage,  even  if  they  had  the  power. 
They  serve  me  as  slaves — they  are  glad  of  one  kind  look. 
They  do  not  guess  what  I  am  ! "  The  always  ready  tears 
•stood  in  the  beautiful  eyes,  but  Ware  was  unmoved, 
stroking,  as  usual,  his  curly  red  beard. 

"Are  you  tired  of  your  bondage  ?"  he  said  quietly. 

"No,  Julius ;  oh  !  no,"  with  a  half  sob.  She  put  her 
hand  on  his  arm,  and  led  him  to  the  farther  room,  where 
they  walked  up  and  down  talking  earnestly. 

Miss  Maddox  had  usually  an  affectionate  manner,  more 
pleasing  to  her  companion  of  the  instant  than  to  the 
envious  lookers  on ;  but  it  was  observed  that  her  attitude 
toward  Ware  to-night  was  unusually  clinging  and  vine- 
like  ;  in  fact,  General  Ealston  commented  to  the  judge 
on  the  familiar  footing  which  the  young  journalist  had 
obtained  in  the  house. 

"I  know  little  about  the  fellow,"  the  judge  replied 
gruffly,  shaking  off  a  moody  fit.  "Anna  admires  his 
courage,  I  believe,  in  this  last  move  of  his.  He  has 
given  up  his  profession  and  taken  to  preaching.  Some 
New  Light  of  his  own — Spiritualism,  Broad  Church, 
Eitualism,  I  don't  know  what.  He  goes  about  from 
town  to  town,  and  is  having  great  success,  Nannie  tells 
me.  Come  out,  Ealston,  and  have  a  bite  of  supper," 
with  a  sigh  from  the  depths  of  his  fat  paunch.  "There's 
some  comfort  left  in  well-cooked  terrapin,  however  the 
bill  may  go." 


JOHN  AKDROSS.  205 


CHAPTER    XXII. 


W 


"HEN  the  hack  drove  to  the  door  for  Anna,  the 
next  morning,  the  servant  handed  her  a  note. 
It  was  mysterious  and  melo-dramatic  enough  to  tingle 
her  small  soul  with  delight. 

"  My  own,  you  are  at  liberty  to  carry  out  your  plans 
to-day,  as  you  choose ;  remembering  only  that  a  day  of 
reckoning  will  come,  and  that  before  long,  and  for  every 
misstep,  you  will  be  held  strictly  to  account." 

It  was  without  signature. 

But  neither  Anna's  soul  nor  body  tingled  with  delight. 
She  read  it  over  again  and  again,  and  then  tore  it  up, 
leaning  back  against  the  shabby,  ill-smelling  cushions, 
with  a  sick  and  miserable  look  of  uncertainty. 

The  stoppage  of  the  carriage  at  Colonel  Latimer's  door, 
and  the  sight  of  Dr.  Braddock's  agitated  face  at  the  door, 
however,  roused  her  as  the  first  view  of  the  audience  does 
an  exhausted  actor. 

"Yes,  it  is  I,"  she  sobbed  excitedly,  leaning  forwards. 
"I  must  not  keep  you  a  moment.  I  know  it  is  your 
wedding-day.  But  we  are  in  such  imminent  peril " 

Tie  predominant  feeling  with  Braddock  was  that  the 
great  temptation  of  his  life  was  before  him;  he  sum 
moned  all  -his  Scotch-Irish  grit  to  resist  it;  a  quality 
which  certainly  does  not  dispose  its  possessor  to  suavity 
of  manner. 

"It  is  my  wedding-day ;  but  if  I  can  serve  you,  Miss 
Maddox,  I  am  ready  to  do  so,"  bowing  stiffly. 

"A  word  from  you  will  serve — serve  to  save  me  from  a 
fate  worse  than  death !"  her  imagination  kindling  with 
the  words.  "  But  it  is  such  a  long,  miserable  story/' 
glancing  distractedly  around  the  awakening  street,  with 
the  curious  glances  of  the  passing  milkmen  and  bakers 
on  each  side. 


206  JOHN   AXDROSS. 

Braddock  hesitated  a  moment,  then  he  opened  the 
hack-door.  "  Drive  slowly  around  the  square,"  he  said 
to  the  coachman,  and  then  sprang  in.  "Now  tell  me 
this  miserable  story,  you  poor  child ! "  he  said,  and,  in 
spite  of  himself,  his  voice  softened.  -But  he  did  not  take 
the  place  beside  her,  and  sat  upright  on  the  opposite  seat, 
his  gloved  hands  resting  on  his  knees. 

Anna's  story,  in  brief,  was  simply  the  fact  that  her 
father's  whole  fortune  was  involved  in  Laird's  scheme, 
and  dependent  on  the  passage  of  the  bill  that  night  at 
Harrisburgh.  "If  it  is  lost  we  are  penniless,"  she 
added.  "Will  you  use  your  influence  with  Andross  to 
vote  for  it?" 

( ( It  is  a  question  of  money  then  ?  How  can  I  ask  Mr. 
Andross  to  vote  against  his  conviction  ?  Men  have  con 
victions  and  a  conscience  in  these  matters,  Miss  Mad- 
dox;"  and  after  a  pause,  "I  did  not  suppose  it  was  for 
a  mere  matter  of  money  you  brought  me  here." 

For  money  just  now  seemed  to  economical  Braddock 
the  vile  dross  that  church  phraseology  held  it  to  be.  He 
had  always  been  in  the  habit  of  believing  that  long  ago 
he  had  withstood  the  powers  of  darkness  in  a  mysterious, 
secret  conflict,  and  made  his  calling  and  election  sure 
forever.  But  during  the  last  five  minutes,  sitting  op- 
^xposite  to  this  woman,  who  tempted  his  flesh  so  sorely, 
striving  to  keep  his  thoughts  on  the  woman  whom  he  had 
loved  in  his  best  days,  it  seemed  to  him  as  if  he  were  go 
ing  through  the  old  fight  again,  in  another  more  actual 
fashion.  Jack  Andross,  in  his  profane  way,  had  talked 
of  real  living  devils  who  fought  you  in  commonplace 
matters  hand  to  hand 

But  Braddock's  soul  told  him  that  he  was  impregnable. 
Very  different  from  poor  Jack  !  The  more  his  narrow 
imagination  kindled  into  a  strange  delight  and  heat  with 
Anna's  every  look,  the  more  stiff  and  harsh  became  his 
manner.  This  was  the  buckling  on  of  armour  which 


JOHK  ANDKOSS.  207 

should  save  him.     But  he  felt  as  if  the  living  man  was 
being  crushed  under  it. 

"I  am  sorry  if  your  father  will  lose  any  of  his  income. 
But  the  loss  of  money  is  a  small  matter,  and  easily  borne 
— easily  borne.  There  are  other  temptations  that  weigh 
heavily  beside  it." 

"It  weighs  very  little  with  me,"  rejoined  Anna,  with 
a  certain  tone  of  desperate  calmness,  which  unconsciously 
impressed  him  more  than  her  wonted  tears  could  have 
done.  "  My  father — you  know  him,  Doctor  Braddock — 
would  be  a  most  miserable  poor  man.  But  I " 

"  How  can  it  affect  you  ?"  leaning  forward  and  as  sud 
denly  drawing  himself  back.  "You  have  too  many 
friends,  child.  Poverty  will  never  come  near  you.  You 
do  not  need  me." 

"  It  affects  me  in  this  way,"  with  the  same  air  of  cold 
restraint.  "  My  father  is  largely  in  debt  to  but  one  man. 
If  he  is  not  pressed  by  him  for  payment,  he  can  have 
time  to  recover,  even  if  this  bill  fails  to  pass." 

"  The  man  is  a  friend  of  Judge  Maddox,  probably.  If 
the  matter  was  stated  to  him  fairly " 

"He  is  more,"  hastily,  her  face  dyed  with  blushes. 

"  He  is  a  friend  of  mine — my  father  intends  that  he 
shall  marry  me." 

Braddock  started,  and  then  smiled.  "Such  things 
never  happen  in  real  life.  Cruel  parents  do  not  sell  their 
daughters  to  save  themselves  from  ruin,  except  in  maga 
zine  and  Ledger  novels,  and  Judge  Maddox  is  the 
last  man  to  play  such  a  role.  You  have  let  your  fears 
deceive  you." 

"I  think  not,"  quietly.  "I  have  given  you  all  the 
facts.  Mr.  Bislow  is  the  creditor.  My  father  has  never 
influenced  me  to  accept  him.  But  I  know  that  if  I  re 
fuse  to  marry  him,  he  will  push  his  claim  at  once ;  as  my 
husband  he  would  never  push  it.  If  this  bill  passes  to 
night,  papa  could  set  him  at  defiance.  But  if  it  is  lost 


208  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

1  promised  to  give  Mr.  Bislow  my  answer  to-mor 
row."  She  stopped. 

"And  you  will  marry  him  to  save  your  father?"  in  a 
tone  of  wondering  homage.  Common-sense  and  judg 
ment  fled.  That  pale,  lovely  face  in  its  dark  hood  oppo 
site  him,  was  capable  of  any  heroic  sacrifice.  So  Jeph- 
thah's  daughter  looked,  he  thought,  dying  for  her  sire. 
Nor  was  his  enthusiasm  the  less  because  he  was  too 
shrewd  a  man  not  to  see  the  folly  of  such  sacrifice. 
Bislow,  no  doubt,  had  been  secured  by  mortgage  or  good 
names,  on  the  paper,  before  he  had  disbursed  a  penny  to 
Maddox.  But  what  did  this  foolish,  romantic  child 
know  of  securities  or  mortgages  ?  Her  head,  he  knew, 
had  been  so  stuffed  with  fiction  and  poetry  that  this  im 
molation  of  herself  appeared  the  only  natural,  feasible 
means  of  saving  her  father,  and  fond  as  he  was  of  her, 
the  judge  would  be  but  too  willing  to  marry  her,  under 
that  deception,  to  a  man  of  Bislow's  solid  character  and 
income. 

He  took  up  one  of  the  little  bare  hands,  which  were 
clasped  outside  of  her  cloak,  and  warmed  it  between  his 
own.  "And  for  your  father's  sake,  you  will  give  your 
self — yourself  for  the  whole  of  your  life,  remember — to  a 
man  whom  you  do  not  love  ?" 

"What  can  I  do  ?  What  does  it  matter  what  becomes 
of  me?  "the  blue  eyes  looking  wildly  up  into  his.  "I 
never  can  marry  the  man  I  do  love." 

"You — you  mean  John  Andross?"  Braddock's  voice 
was  hoarse ;  he  turned  his  head  away  from  her  as  he 
spoke.  Her  little  heart  beat  and  thumped  against  her 
delicate  tight  corset.  Here  was  passion — tragedy  in  her 
life  at  last !  There  was  silence  for  a  moment,  then  she 
said: 

"No;  Mr.  Andross  "is  a  dear  friend  to  me.  There 
have  been  times,"  her  upturned  face  growing  grave, 
"  when  I  fancied  he  was  more.  But 1  know  myself 


JOHK  ANDROSS.  209 

now,"  with  a  shy,  swift  burning  glance  into  his  eyes.  In 
fact,  the  child  did  fancy  that  she  knew  herself  now  for 
the  first  time.  Here  was  her  real  soul's  mate.  All  men 
besides  this  pale,  cowed,  yet  stern  man  opposite  were  but 
as  actors  in  a  pantomime.  Besides,  what  fun  it  was  to 
think  of  Isabel  Latimer,  with  the  pride  of  a  hundred 
women,  waiting  for  the  husband  who  did  not  come  !  He 
should  not  come  to  her — never !  The  hand  he  held 
trembled  and  struggled  to  be  free,  as  a  heroine's  always 
does  at  the  supreme  moment.  And  much  to  her  surprise 
Doctor  Braddock  promptly  dropped  it,  and  began  fumb 
ling  with  his  dog-skin  gloves  instead.  Assuredly,  there 
was  nothing  melo-dramatic  in  the  school  to  which  he 
belonged.  Yet  the  one  thought  surging  through  his 
brain,  with  a  wild  exhilarating  throb,  was — ' ( It  is  I 
whom  she  loves!  I!"  Being,  however,  preeminently  a 
logical,  practical  man,  he  mastered  the  situation,  even  in 
this  ecstacy.  In  her  love  and  despair,  this  impulsive 
child  would  throw  herself  away  to  rescue  her  father. 
He,  Braddock,  must  be  cool,  save  her,  himself — Isabel. 
Isabel ,  he  stopped  there  with  a  twinge. 

The  hack  stopped,  the  driver's  head  appeared  :  "  Am'I 
to  droive  around  the  squoire  wance  more  ?" 

"No,"  said  Braddock  promptly.  "To  Judge  Mad- 
dox's.  I  will  set  this  matter  right  with  your  father,"  he 
said  to  Anna.  "  Ten  minutes'  rational  explanation  will 
be  enough.  Miss  Latimer  will  spare  me  so  long." 

"You  know  best,"  in  a  submissive  whisper.  She  knew 
that  her  father  had  gone  to  Harrisburgh  an  hour  ago. 

There  was  no  matter  in  these  words  which  required 
that  they  should  carefully  avoid  meeting  each  other's 
eyes,  nor  that  their  voices  should  be  scrupulously  formal ; 
yet  they  were  so. 

"I  have  always  found,"  he  resumed,  "that  in  the 
difficult  places  of  life,  Miss  Maddox,  we  must  take  com 
mon-sense  and  duty  as  our  only  guides."  t 


210  JOHN   ANDKOSS. 

Anna's  reply  was  a  little  sob. 

Dr.  Braddock  straightened  the  fingers  of  his  glove,  and 
looked  steadfastly  out  of  the  window.  Andross,  poor 
fellow,  had  suffered  his  love  for  this  girl  to  lead  him  out 
of  the  paths  of  rectitude.  How  different  it  was  with 
himself !  It  was  well  for  Maddox,  for  himself,  for  poor 
Anna  in  this  strait,  that  he,  at  least,  had  a  clear  head 
and  a  trustworthy  conscience.  By  the  aid  of  common- 
sense  and  duty  he  would  make  her  life's  path  straight 
before  this  loving  child,  and  then  return  to  Isabel  and 
strive  to  forget  all  that  which  might  have  been.  His 
soul  was  in  this  heroic  mood,  and  a  scrap  of  poetry  run 
ning  in  his  head  about  a  "  future  of  work,  calm,  approv 
ing  conscience,  and  a  smiling  heaven,"  when  an  odd 
thing  happened. 

They  drove  past  an  old  shop  full  of  queer,  second-hand 
furniture.  A  year  ago  he  and  Isabel,  wandering  about 
town  in  her  idle,  vagabondizing  way,  had  passed  the 
place,  and  he,  stopping  her  at  the  open  door,  had  chosen 
prettily  carved  bits  of  furniture  for  their  house  that  was 
to  be,  a  book-case  for  the  parlour,  a  lounge  for  the  cozery. 
How  proud  and  glad,  into  his  very  heart,  he  had  been  to 
see  the  warm,  bright  blushes  creeping  into  her  cheek ! 
He  had  gone  back,  time  after  time,  just  as  he  could  save 
the  money,  to  buy  one  piece  after  another,  and  had  stored 
them  away  to  surprise  Bell  some  day  after  they  were  mar 
ried.  Could  he  be  the  same  man  as  the  happy,  embar 
rassed  fellow  who  drove  those  bargains  with  the  Eidge- 
road  dealer  ?  That  was  the  true  Braddock,  a  real  man, 
loving  and  hating  heartily,  who  had  stood  chaffering 
there;  this  was  a  weak,  morbid  fool  in  the  hack,  not 
fighting  a  real  temptation,  but  paltering  with  a  sham 
passion,  as  one  who  stands  doubting  on  the  brink  of  a 
sickly  tepid  bath.  For  one  brief  moment  Braddock  saw 
himself  with  clear  eyes.  Andross  loved  this  woman ;  but 
did  he  ?  He  knew  he  did  not.  In  the  next  moment  he 


JOHN  ANDROSS.  211 

might  waken  from  this  unhealthy  dream.  But  the  next 
moment  they  stopped  in  front  of  Judge  Maddox's  door, 
and  Anna  chose  to  alight  alone  and  walk  in  unassisted, 
but  trembling  visibly.  The  little  creature  was  frail,  in 
deed!  sent  into  the  world  to  be  supported,  protected; 
yet,  with  what  a  noble  moral  strength  she  had  put  him 
aside !  though  she  felt  he  should  have  been  that  pro 
tector  !  He  hurried:  after  her ;  all  his  self-confidence  re 
turned.  Truly,  he  thought/  caressing  his  thin  whiskers, 
this  was  a  difficult  part  given  to  him  to  play  ! 

Miss  Maddox  having  penetrated  into  the  house,  came 
back  to  meet  him. 

"We  are  too  late!  My  father  has  gone  to  Harris- 
burgh  !  Mr.  Andross  will  vote  against  the  bill.  It  is  all 
over — all  over !"  she  ejaculated  in  broken  sentences,  lean 
ing  against  the  wall.  "  Go,  Doctor  Braddock.  Leave 
me  to  my  fate.  You  have  been  very  kind,"  she  added 
faintly,  the  lids  closed  on  the  white  cheeks. 

"I  begged  of  you,  Miss  Maddox,  to  leave  this  matter 
to  me,"  he  said,  pacing  up  and  down  the  hall.  "I  will 
bring  order  out  of  confusion.  You  shall  not  marry  Bislow. " 

She  shuddered,  her  eyes  still  closed. 

Braddock  stopped,  looked  at  her,  and  choked  back  an 
oath. 

"Everything  is  bartered  for  money  in  this  accursed 
town  !  But,  God  willing,  you  shall  not  be  !" 

"If  this  bill  could  pass,  all  would  go  well,"  she  mur 
mured,  half  unclosing  her  eyes. 

"Bill?  What  is  the  bill?  A  subsidy,  or  grant,  or 
some  kind  of  privilege  to  the  Transit  Company,  is  it  not  ? 
Why  does  not  Andross  vote  for  it  ?  I  don't  see  what 
moral  question  can  be  involved  in  it !  .  If  he  knew  what 
results  hung  upon  his  vote,  surely " 

"  But  how  can  he  know  ?  Who  is  there  to  state  the 
whole  case  plainly  to  him  ?" 

"  I  will  write.     I  can  put  the  matter  so  forcibly  that, 


212  JOHN   ANDBOSS. 

if  his  conscience  is  not  opposed  to  it .     If  I  may 

ring  for  pen  and  ink " 

Anna  did  not  move. 

"  It  is  very  uncertain  whether  a  letter  could  reach  him 
in  time.  The  bill  may  be  put  upon  its  passage  this  after 
noon.  Besides,"  with  a  shiver,  "it  is  hard  to  think  of 
my  story  being  put  into  a  cojd,  written  statement.  Do 
forgive  me.  I'm  a  foolish,  spoiled  child,  I  know." 

"No,  it  is  not  foolish.  I  understand  you.  But  what 
am  I  to  do  ?"  He  paused  irresolute,  then  drew  out  his 
watch  hurriedly,  and  rang  the  bell.  "  Bring  me  a  paper 
with  the  time-table  to  Harrisburgh,"  to  the  servant. 
Anna  had  sunk  upon  a  chair ;  a  faint  rose  flush  was  steal 
ing  into  her  cheek  as  she  watched  him  glance  over  the 
paper.  "  I  find  that  a  train  leaves  in  half  an  hour.  I 
can  run  up  and  be  back  by  five  o'clock." 

"And  leave  Isabel  all  day?  Never!  For  me,  too? 
Oh,  no.  Leave  me.  I  shall  be  always  alone.  What 
does  it  matter  for  me  ?" 

"It  matters  this  much:  that  I  will  at  least  ensure 
your  safety  from  this  wretched  marriage  ! "  vehemently. 
"I  can  leave  Miss  Latimer  alone  for  a  few  hours,  surely, 
for  that.  So  much  of  my  life,  at  least,  I  may  devote  to 
you.  Birt  I  will  telegraph  to  her  why  I  am  absent. " 

He**  sat  down  and  hurriedly  wrote  a  message.  When  it 
was  finished,  and  he  was  about  to  summon  the  servant 
again,  she  held  out  her  hand. 

"  Give  it  to  me.  I  will  have  it  sent  up  at  once  to  the 
house.  Dear  Bell !  she  will  be  so  glad  to  help  me  !"  and 
hurried  out  to  read  the  paper,  crumple  it  in  her  little 
hand,  and  deposit  it,  with  a  shrug,  in  her  pocket. 

When  she  came  back  a  moment  afterwards,  she  had 
changed  her  cloak  and  hood  for  a  most  becoming  travel 
ling  suit  and  hat. 

"You  are  not ?"  hesitated  Braddock.    . 

"  Going  with   you  ?    Oh,  yes,  indeed.     I,  too,  may 


JOHN   ANDROSS.  213 

have  some  influence  with  Mr.  Andross,"  with  a  sad,  be 
witching  smile. 

Braddock  would  have  argued,  but  he  remembered  the 
ride  up  the  mountain  by  night.  Argument,  he  had  rea 
son  to  know,  never  deterred  this  yielding  creature  one 
inch  in  the  road  which  she  had  made  up  her  mind  to 
take.  He  followed  her  in  silence,  with  a  countenance  by 
no  means  heroic,  but  ill-tempered  and  harassed  in  the 
extreme.  What  would  people  say,  who  saw  who  was  his 
companion  on  this,  that  was  to  have  been  his  wedding 
journey  ?  When  they  were  seated,  Anna's  pleading  little 
face  was  turned  to  him  wistfully,  all  its  sweet,  passionate 
meanings  ready  for  him  to  trace.  A  sudden  glow  of  heat 
passed  through  him  at  t\e  glance,  but  he  put  his  head 
out  of  the  hack  window,  instead  of  returning  it. 

"To  the  Pennsylvania  Central  depot,"  he  said,  and 
then  leaned  back,  grimly  silent. 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 


train  to  Harrisburgh  had  scarcely  passed  out 
of  the  city  limits  on  to  the  flat,  cheerful  farm-lands 
of  Chester  county,  when  Braddock  was  sensible  of  a  sud 
den  uneasiness  on  the  part  of  his  companion.  She  had 
made  one  or  two  efforts  to  draw  him  into  a  whispered 
colloquy,  but  in  vain ;  the  jolting  of  the  cars,  the  dust 
from  the  engine,  the  momentary  attacks  of  news  and 
gum-drop  boys  were  all  antagonistic  to  any  expression  of 
that  relation  of  suppressed  affinity,  which  it  is  to  be  sup 
posed  they  held  to  each  other.  Braddock  felt  that  the 
clatter  about  them  would  render  it  necessary  to  shout  out 
in  her  ear  his  tender  sympathy,  if  he  spoke  it  at  all ;  such 
shouting  would  rob  the  emotion,  for  him,  of  its  bloom 


214  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

and  charm.  Anna,  most  probably,  would  rather  haye 
heard  it  through  an  ear-trumpet,  than  not  at  all.  Souls 
such  as  hers  exist  but  on  supplies  of  sympathy  from  hour 
to  hour ;  and  they  are  the  ones  most  likely  to  receive  it. 

Finding  it  impossible,  therefore,  to  broach  any  but 
commonplace  subjects,  Anna  had  sunk  into  silence  at 
his  side,  and  beguiled  the  time  with  studying  the  face 
of  the  conductor  —  a  most  picturesque  face,  in  her 
opinion,  and  one  which  indicated  a  peculiar  heart-his 
tory.  But  presently  Braddock  observed  that  she  sat 
erect,  her  breath  came  hurriedly,  and  she  turned  her  face 
steadily  to  the  window. 

"What  is  wrong  ?"  he  asked. 

In  fact,  he  was  beginning  to  tire  of  this  perpetual 
emotion  of  one  sort  or  another ;  he  felt  like  a  theatrical 
walking  gentleman  going  incessantly  out  of  one  second- 
rate  tragedy  into  another.  There  was  a  certain  comfort, 
after  all,  in  Bell's  large,  easy,  sunny-tempered  ways. 

"Nothing  is  wrong,"  said  Anna  sharply.  "Are  you 
afraid  of  being  followed  and  watched  ?  Why  should  any 
body  watch  us  ?  " 

She  had  not  turned  her  head,  or  she  would  have  seen 
Mr.  Ware,  who  had  lounged  up  the  car  as  though  he  had 
just  bought  it,  and  now  stood  beside  them,  portly,  smil 
ing,,  assertant,  from  his  flowing  red  mane  to  his  glossy 
patent-leather  shoes. 

"Ah!  Going  to  Harrisburgh,  Doctor?"  throwing 
himself  easily  into  the  seat  in  front  of  them.  "Good 
morning,  Miss  Maddox.  I  did  not  recognize  you  at  first." 

"I  have  some  business  with  the  legislature,"  said 
Braddock,  in  haste  to  render  account  of  his  proceedings 
to  anybody,  "and  am  taking  Miss  Maddox  to  her  father." 

Ware  nodded  indifferently,  gathering  up  his  flowing 
neckerchief  in  his  hand,  and  looking  at  it. 

"If  you  stay  over  to-night,  Doctor,  come  down  to  the 
town-hall.  I  hold  forth  there." 


JOHN  ANDROSS.  215 

"  I  am  going  back  on  the  next  train.  You  speak  on 
the  crisis?"  forcing  himself  to  be  polite.  "I  did  not 
know  you  meant  to  take  the  stump  this  campaign." 

"No,"  said  Ware  gravely;  "I  have  given  up  politics 
entirely.  When  one  considers  with  any  attention  the 
Infinite  Forces  of  Good  and  Evil  contending  for  human 
ity " 

"You  mean  God  and  the  devil?"  said  Braddock,  who 
had  a  habit  of  interrupting. 

"You  may  put  it  in  that  way,  if  you  choose,  /call  it 
old-fashioned  and  narrow.  But  when  one  considers  these 
Forces,  all  questions  of  municipal  reform,  the  tariff,  etc., 
appear  very  petty;  very  petty,  sir." 

"Y — es."  Braddock  was  confused  at  being  hoisted  so 
suddenly  into  such  lofty  regions  of  thought.  "  But  I 
supposed  the  tariff  and  such  matters  were  the  especial 
business  of  you  newspaper  men  ?" 

"I've  done  with  newspapers."  Ware's  voice  filled  the 
car ;  and  as  soon  as  people  began  to  lay  down  their  papers 
and  listen,  it  rose  and  rolled  with  fine  emphasis.  "I 
thought  you  knew  I  had  given  up  the  disjointed  thinking 
of  journalism,  as  Dr.  Eush  called  it,  and  had  ranged  my 
self  among  the  moral  teachers  of  mankind." 

"  Gone  into  the  ministry  ?" 

Braddock  perceived  at  the  moment  the  close  attention 
which  Anna  gave  to  every  word  of  Ware's,  although  she 
kept  her  head  turned  from  him. 

' '  I  certainly  have  not  entered  the  ministry.  Priests, 
Protestant,  and  Catholic,  sir,  are  the  incubi  upon  human 
ity.  I  look  on  them  as  barnacles  that  clog  the  progress 
of  the — the  vessel.  Disposing  of  the  water  of  life  for 
filthy  lucre.  I  belong  to  no  sect,  Doctor  Braddock.  I 
have  gathered  about  me  a  band  of  like-minded  men  with 
myself — free,  progressive  thinkers — and  we  meet  in  an 
upper  hall,  like  the  disciples  of  old.  I  pray  and  preach 
for  them.  They  think  I  have  a  little  gift  that  way." 


216  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

Braddock  was  galled  with  impatience,  but  it  was  neces 
sary  to  keep  Ware's  curiosity  and  attention  away  from 
himself  and  his  errand. 

"You  are  the  founder  of  the  sect,  then?"  he  said. 
"  I — I -hope  they  pay  you  a  good  salary  ?" 

f( None  at  all !"  triumphantly.  "I  have  had  calls  to 
three  Broad  churches — very  broad — where  the  salary  was 
large  and  assured.  But  I  told  them,  'No,  gentlemen; 
the  truth  is  not  to  be  sold.  I  receive  no  wages — not  a 
penny  !'  I  would  not  go  !" 

"Very  praiseworthy,  indeed.  You  propose  to  work  at 
some  trade  or  business,  and  give  your  services  to  the 
Lord.  Just  as  St.  Paul  made  sails " 

"I  think  it  very  questionable  whether  St.  Paul  did 
anything  of  the  sort,"  testily.  "No,  sir.  I  shall  not 
henceforth  labour  at  all.  I  have  higher  work.  I  have 
been  called  to  pray  and  preach,  and  for  the'  means  of 
livelihood  I  throw  myself  upon  the  unfailing  Love  in  the 
bosoms  of  mankind.  I  throw  all  care  to  the  winds  and 
live  sure  of  support  from  day  to  day,  like  the  lilies  of  the 
field— the  birds  of  the  air " 

"  But  I  really  don't  understand " 

"I  simply  live  a  life  of  faith,  like  Jung  Stilling.  I 
receive  such  gifts  as  the  faithful  send." 

"  Taking  care  that  it  is  known  you  are  ready  to  receive 
them,"  said  Braddock^  laughing. 

"It  is  known.  So  far,  I  have  wanted  for  nothing. 
One  sends  me  a  board  bill  paid  in  advance,  and  at  a  good 
hotel — very  good ;  another  a  dozen  of  fine  handkerchiefs 
— each  according  to  his  ability.  Now,  this  suit — notice 
the  quality — that  came  only  last  week  from  a  Chestnut 
street  house — receipted  bill.  Oh,  I  have  no  fear ;  a  life 
of  faith  is  the  surest  life." 

"Now,  that  might  answer  for  a  single  man,"  said  a 
shrewd-eyed  Jersey  farmer  who  had  been  listening. 
"But  how  about  your  wife?  How  does  she  meet  the 


JOHN   AisDEOSS.  217 

butcher's  and  grocer's,  bills  at  the  end  of  the  week  ?    How 
do  they  appreciate  this  talk  of  lilies  and  birds  ?" 

"If  I  had  a  wife,"  said  Ware  loftily,  "she  should  at 
the  outset  devote  herself  to  some  ennobling  pursuit  and. 
effort   for  humanity,  like  myself— the   teaching  of  the 
Freedmen,  say,  or  civilizing  friendless  children.     That 
one  great  thought  would  blot  out  lesser  matters,  such  as 
occupy  other  women.      Butchers'   and  grocers'   bills!" 
with  a  contemptuous  wave  of  his  hand.     "You  agree 
with  me,  I  am  sure,  Miss  Maddox?"  turning  suddenly  __ 
on  her. 

"Oh,  entirely!" 

Ware  nodded  triumphantly,  and  rising,  sauntered  down 
the  car. 

"You  do  not  actually  endorse  that  fellow's  crazy  pro 
jects  ?"  Braddock  said,  turning  to  her.  , 

"  Crazy  !  They  seem  to  me  the  fruit  of  a  very  noble 
enthusiasm,"  she  replied. 

The  doctor  looked  at  her  keenly.  There  was  a  strange 
tartness  in  her  dove-like  cooings  at  times.  But  what 
could  it  matter  to  him  what  her  feelings  were  to  Ware  or 
to  any  man  ?  She  could  be  nothing  to  him.  He  sank 
back,  looking  moodily  out  of  the  window,  and  the  silence 
remained  unbroken  until  they  reached  Harrisburgh. 


OHAPTEE    XXIV. 

«~T  WILL  leave  you  in  a  room  at  the  hotel,  and  send 
your  father  to  you,  Miss  Maddox,  while  I  find 
'Andross,"  said  Braddock  as  they  left  the  cars. 

"And  if  you  can  not  find  papa?"  looking  about  the 
unfamiliar  streets  with  the  timid  eyes  of  a  hunted  doe. 

"  He  is  up  at  the  capitol,  no  doubt,"  soothingly.  He 
bestowed  her  safely  in  the  hotel,  holding  her  trembling 


JOHN   ANDIIOSS. 


hand  tenderly  one  moment  at  parting.  What  manner  of 
man  would  have  the  care  of  this  poor,  clinging  woman 
for  life  ?  Only  to  hold  her  in  his  arms  one  moment  !  to 
protect-  _  Then  he  clapped  on  his  hat,  and  left  her 
without  a  word.  The  truth  was,  the  charm  in  Anna  was 
in  .this  matter  of  protection.  Isabel  was  so  healthily 
tough  and  sensible,  was  either  stupidly  blind  to  trouble 
or  else  joked  it  so  resolutely  aside,  that  Braddock  never 
had  found  anything  about  her  over  which  to  play  cham 
pion.  He  looked  at  his  watch  ;  he  had  but  an  hour. 
He  almost  ran  through  the  streets  up  to  the  capitol; 
nodding  hastily  to  such  acquaintances  as  he  met.  They 
did  not  know  what  an  heroic  fellow  he  was  ;  which  of 
them  would  do  the  like  ?  Which  of  them  would  give  up 
this  queen  of  women,  if  she  loved  him,  to  keep  his  word 
of  honour? 

Into  the  lobby  rooms,  the  restaurant,  the  senate  cham- 
'  ber,  with  its  dirty  floor  and  gaudy  frescoing  ;  but  no 
sign  of  Andross,  nor  even  of  Judge  Maddox.  As  he  was 
leaning  over  the  gallery  partition,  anxiously  scanning 
again  the  senators'  seats,  Wilson,  a  lumber  dealer  from 
Lock  Haven,  tapped  him  on  the  shoulder.  "Looking 
for  Andross,  Clay  ?  That  young  man  has  had  a  lucky 
boost  out  of  your  furnace  into  this  room.  Why  had  you 
no  friends  at  court  ?" 

"  I  make  my  own  way.     I  do  want  John,  immediately. 
Do  you  know  where  he  is  ?" 

<  '  Gone  out,  Maddox  told  me,  to  dine  with  some  friend 
in  the  country  ;  the  judge  did  not  say  where.     He  had 
urgent  business  with  Jack,  too,  and  had  hired  a  sleigh  to 
follow  him.     Jack's  not  in  any  difficulty,  eh  ?"  curiously. 
"  'No.     You  do  not  know  when  they  will  be  back  ?: 
"I  haven't  the  slightest  idea;  but  if  I  can  be  of  any 
assistance  —  —  " 
"No,  no." 
"Your  errand  is  of  too  delicate  a  nature  to  bear  any 


j   AXDROSS. 


interference,"  broke  in  a  rich,  rolling  voice  behind,  and 
the  doctor  turning,  met  Ware,  coolly  looking  over  his 
shoulder  at  the  men  below.  "  At  least  I  infer  it  must  be 
so,  when  it  brings  you  here  in  company  with  a  pretty 
girl,  whom  you  are  not  going  to  marry,  on  your  wedding- 
day." 

"  On  your  wedding-day,  Clay?"  asked  Wilson  eagerly. 
"  Miss  Latimer  ?  -  " 

Braddock  bowed. 

The  old  man  lifted  his  hat  from  his  gray  hair. 

"I  hope  you  deserve  her,  my  lad.  If  she  had  been  a 
man  she  would  have  .been  like  her  father.  I  can't  say 
more  for  her  than  that.  But  what  are  you  scouting 
about  the  country  at  this  time  of  day  for  ?  and  with  a 
woman,  did  you  say  ?  " 

"It  is  a  matter  of  delicacy,  as  Mr.  Ware  said,  and  one 
which  will  not  bear  even  his  interference,"  said  Braddock 
irritably. 

Ware  laughed  aloud,  and  shrugged  his  broad  shoulders 
as  Braddock  hurried  off,  a  scowl  on  his  face.  It  occurred 
to  him  for  the  first  time  that  he  might  seem  to  others  to 
be  playing  a  mean  and  ignoble  part,  to-day.  And  old 
Wilson  lifted  his  hat  at  the  mere  mention  of  Isabel  ?  He 
laughed  with  a  sudden  glow  of  pleasure.  Well,  Bell  was 
precisely  the  kind  of  woman  to  command  that  involun 
tary  sort  of  homage.  The  hour  was  nearly  over  ;  he  was 
walking  rapidly  toward  the  hotel  when  he  met  Anna. 

"I  fear  I  must  leave  you,  Miss  Maddox.  I  have  not 
been  able  to  find  Andross.  I  shall  leave  a  letter  for  him 
and  a  message  for  your  father  to  come  to  you  ;  --  unless 
you  will  go  back  to  Philadelphia  on  the  same  train  that 
I  do?" 

"No.  /  will  not  leave  my  father,  Doctor  Braddock, 
in  this  crisis  of  his  fortunes.  What  I  can  do  for  him  I 
will  do." 

"  You  do  not  mean  that  you  will  marry  Bislow  ?  you 


220  JOHH   ANDROSS. 

can  not  mean  that  9 "  What  with  his  brisk  run  through 
the  cold  air,  and  Wilson's  mention  of  Isabel,  matters  had 
put  on  a  hearty,  healthy  aspect.  This  possibility  had 
escaped  him ;  it  yawned  before  him  with  a  sudden  horror 
like  death. 

"What  else  can  be  done  ?"  said  Anna.     "Every  help 

is  gone — even  you  have  deserted  us But  go  to  Isabel, 

she  expects  you." 

"  Yes,  I  telegraphed  her  I  would  be  back  in  the  five 
o'clock  train."  He  took  out  his  watch,  looked  at  Anna,- 
at  the  engine  in  the  depot,  already  puffing  blue  wisps  of 
smoke  into  the  frosty  air,  up  and  down  the  vacant  street. 
When  Andross  had  talked  once  of  being  netted  in  in 
visible  cords,  and  dragged  down  into  commonplace, 
every-day  evil,  how  easy  it  had  seemed  to  escape ;  there 
were  none  of  Macintosh's  demons  to  fight.  But  now 

"  Thank  God  !  There  is  Andross  at  last ! "  as  a  sleigh 
filled  with  men  dashed  past  them,  going  towards  the 
capitol.  "  I  will  follow  them.  I  will  be  in  time  yet  to 
go  back  on  the  five  o'clock  train.  Good  bye." 

"You  are  going  back  to  Isabel  ?"  her  eyes  on  his. 

"  I  must  go.     Oh,  dear  child  !    Surely  you  know " 

he  broke  forth,  but  what  more  he  would  have  said  she 
never  knew,  for  at  that  moment  Mr.  Julius  Ware  lounged 
in  his  lofty  manner  into  sight  around  a  corner. 

"Good  bye,"  she  said  with  sudden  admirable  self-pos 
session.  "Go,  and  do  what  you  can  for  us  with  An 
dross." 


CHAPTER    XXV. 

B HADDOCK,  directed  by  a  member  in  the  rotunda, 
hurried  *to  the  private  committee  room,  where  the 
friends  of  the  bill  had  been  waiting  for  Andross.     When 
he  reached  the  door  he  stopped,  looking  among  the  men 


JOHN"   ANDROSS.  221 

for  him.  The  short  winter's  afternoon  was  nearly  over ; 
the  dull  remaining  light  fell,  in  a  melancholy  fashion, 
through  the  bare  windows,  on  the  gray  plastered  walls  of 
the  square  room,  the  hacked  table  in  the  centre,  the 
gaudy  carpet,  with  an  earth  en- ware  spittoon  set  here  and 
there.  There  was  a  heavy  smell  of  dead  tobacco  smoke 
over  the  whole.  It  was  all  dingy  and  dispiriting ;  even 
the  groups  of  men  talking  earnestly  were  grave  and 
anxious.  But  in  front  of  the  blazing  fire  stood  Jack,  his 
furred  overcoat  thrown  back,  his  hat  in  his  hand ;  'gay, 
flushed,  handsome,  absorbing  all  the  warmth  and  light 
of  the  room.  His  eye  was  more  brilliant  than  usual,  his 
tongue  more  ready.  Braddock  guessed,  though  unjustly, 
that  he  had  been  strengthening  himself  for  the  coming 
struggle  with  such  courage  as  could  be  found-in  cham 
pagne. 

"  There,  there ;  now,  boys,"  waving  them  off,  laugh 
ing.  "  One  at  a  time.  But  you  might  as  well  have  left 
me  to  eat  Shreve's  dinner  in  comfort.  It  was  hardly 
worth  while  to  bring  me  here  to  tell  you  how  I  shall  vote, 
when  you  know  it  already.  Besides,  the  bill  is  lost  with 
out  me  by  a  majority  of  two." 

"No,  McElroy  and  Spinner  have  come  over,"  cried  a 
dozen  voices.  ' '  But  Waite,  who  votes  with  us,"  added 
one,  "is  going  to  fly  the  track.  So  it  rests  with  you, 
Andross,  after  all." 

Braddock,  meanwhile,  unnoticed  in  the  confusion,  was 
vainly  trying  to  push  through  the  eager  crowd  to  him. 

Jack  felt  his  overcoat  getting  heavy  and  threw  it  off. 
"So  they've  deserted  me?"  with  a  laughing  shrug. 
"How  did  you  manage  it,  Willitts  ?" 

(S  Ton  my  word  I  had  nothing  to  do  with  it,"  protested 
Willitts  with  an  innocent  smile,  which  produced  a  shout 
of  laughter. 

"They  do  say,"  interposed  a  lean,  carefully  dressed 
man  at  the  table,  who  was  jotting  down  something  in  his 


222  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

note-book,  "  that  Mrs.  Spinner  has  become  violently  in 
terested  in  the  rise  of  Lehigh  "V  alley  stock  since  last 
night,  and  that  Willitts  here  presented  McElroy  with  a 
basket  of  champagne  of  a  rare  quality  this  morning." 

"No  harm  in  that,  I  hope  ?"  drawled  Ned.     "No," 
said  the  other,  "nor  in  making  it  true  Green  Seal  with 
a  five  hundred  dollar  bill  in  the  wire  of  each  bottle." 
^  Willitts  laughed.      "  Never  listen  to  gossip.     Major 
McElroy  has  a  costly  taste  in  wines,  that's  a  fact." 

"At  least,  Mr.  Willitts,"  said  Andross  sternly,  "I 
hope  you  did  not  intend  to  offer  me  champagne  of  that 
brand.  I  am  obliged  to  end  the  matter  abruptly,  gentle 
men,"  raising  his  voice,  "but  it  has  been  thoroughly 
discussed  before  between  us.  I  am  sorry  to  vote  in  direct 
opposition  to  my  party.  But  I  believe  this  bill  to  be  a 
fraud  upon  the  people  of  the  state  for  the  benefit  of  a  few 
rich  men.  Even  with  its  face  meaning  it  is  a  dishonest 
trick,  an  attempt  to  bolster  the  National  Transit  Com 
pany,  bankrupt  now  for  four  months;  and  the  snake 
hidden  under  it  is,  as  every  one  of  you  well  know,  the 
rider  intended  to  give  extraordinary  powers  to  the  Whis 
key  Ring  of  Philadelphia.  If  I  am  annoyed  further  in 
the  matter,  I  shall  not  only  defeat  the  bill  by  my  vote 
to-night,  but  I  will  expose  fully  the  real  intent  of  the 
Eing,  and  the  Transit  Company."  He  pulled  his  gloves 
off  nervously,  his  eyes  half  shut,  and  mouth  set.  It  was 
so  like  Jack,  thought  Braddock,  to  pass  from  his  careless 
gayety  to  angry  defiance  !  So  like  him,  too,  to  exaggerate 
the  evil  purpose  of  the  bill !  At  this  moment  Andross 
caught  sight  of  him,  and  hurried  eagerly  forward. 
"  Excuse  me,"  nodding  to  the  others.  "  But  I  see  a 
friend  who  has  some  personal  business  with  me,  no  doubt. 
Why,  Braddock,  old  fellow,"  excitedly,  "what  drove  you 
among  us  money  changers  and  thieves  ?  If  old  Diogenes 
should  only  chance  to  come  along  with  his  lantern  to 
day,  he'd  find  at  last  one  honest  man  in  Harrisburgh." 


JOHK  ANDEOSS.  223 

"Tut,  tut,  Jack!"  under  his  breath,  "that's  but  a 
poor  joke,  and  a  rough  one,"  glancing  at  the  men,  who 
were  going  slowly  out  into  the  hall,  but  not  yet  out  of 
hearing. 

"Bah,  they're  used  to  it.  It's  a  rough  place,  Clay. 
We  talk  of  bribes  as  we  would  of  bread  and  butter.  That 
Willitts  could  tell  you  the  price  of  every  man  who  is  in 
the  market,  to  a  dollar.  He'll  find  there's  one  man  he 
can't  buy,"  tossing  his  head  contemptuously.  "But 
what  are  you  doing  here  ?  Anything  gone  wrong  ?  " 

"Yes.  Wrong  enough  to  bring  me  away  from  Isabel, 
although  this  is  our  wedding-day.  It's  this  bill,  Jack. 
This  Transit  Company  bill."  Its  connection  with  any 
whiskey  ring  he  secretly  supposed  to  be  one  of  Andross's 
imaginative  additions. 

"  The  Transit  bill ! "  with  astonishment.  "  What  can 
you  have  to  do  with  that,  Braddock  ?  " 

"  Nothing,  personally.  I  should  have  nothing  to  do 
with  it  on  the  part  of  any  one  else  if  I  could  believe  it 
to  be  as  iniquitous  a  matter  as  you  assert.  But  your 
fancy  is  easily  heated,  Jack,"  with  an  indulgent  smile. 
"I  have  read  over  the  draft  of  it,  with -all  its  clauses, 
carefully,  and  can  detect  nothing  objectionable  in  it." 

"  I  differ  with  you.  Even  in  its  expressed  significance, 
it  is  a  piece  of  wholesale  swindling.  But  like  one  third 
of  the  bills  passed  this  session,  it  is  designed  to  cover 
another  and  totally  different  measure.  The  important 
victories  of  the  Ring  have  been  gained  in  riders,  and " 

"I  don't  understand  such  matters,"  impatiently. 
"But  this  bill  appears  to  me  to  be  all  right.  And  I 
came  to  ask  you,  Andross,  to  vote  for  it. " 

"You  came  to  ask  me  to  vote  for  it !" 

"Not  if  you  have  any  real  conscientious  objection," 
quickly.  "  Surely  you  know  I  would  not  urge  you  to  a 
wrong  act,  Jack  !  But  you  do  exaggerate  ordinary  things 
to  yourself  so  frightfully  !  I  really  can  see  no  connection 


224  JOH^  ANDKOSS. 


with  whiskey  in  this  Transit  matter,  and  if  you  could 
vote  for  the  bill  it  would  bring  order  into  a  terribly  con 
fused  business." 

He  insensibly  had  fallen  into  the  dogmatic,  didactic 
tone  which  he  ordinarily  had  used  to  Jack.  With  all  his 
success  and  manly  strength  and  beauty,  he  was  in  Brad- 
dock's  eyes  but  an  overgrown  school-boy,  full  of  whims, 
before  his  tutor.  The  bill  was  honest  enough.  Surely 
he  was  the  best  judge  of  that ;  he  could  not  forget  that 
he  was  a  member  of  a  church,  and  that  poor  Jack  was 

no  matter.  But  it  was  certainly  presumptuous  in 

Andross  to  oppose  him  on  moral  grounds,  especially  when 
he  was  making  such  heroic  sacrifices  to-day. 

Meanwhile  Andross  stood  silent.  The  unnatural  heat 
had  gone  from  his  face ;  he  was  quite  sobered.  "  I  wish 
you  had  not  asked  me  to  do  this  thing,  Braddock.  I've 
had  a  hard  fight  for  it ;  but  I  did  not  think  I  should 
have  to  refuse  you.  May  I  ask  for  whom  you  are  act 
ing?" 

"For  Maddox.  I  did  not  intend  to  tell  you,  or  to 
compromise  the  poor  child.  I  thought  my  request  would 
be  enough." 

(i  What  child  ?    What  do  you  mean  ?"  coming  closer. 

"I  mean  Miss  Maddox,"  without  looking  at  him. 
"  The  judge  is  involved  in  this  Transit  Company,  besides 
owing  Abel  Bislow  a  large  sum.  Anna  has  conceived  the 
idea  that  the  only  way  to  save  her  father  is  by  marrying 
the  man.  Some  mortgage  or  note  of  hand  is  due,  which 
Bislow  would  not  press  as  the  judge's  son-in-law.  Or  if 
this  bill  passes,  the  judge  is  safe.  Her  account  of  busi 
ness  matters  is  very  unintelligible,  as  you  may  suppose ; 
but  I  understood  enough  to  show  me  that  between  actual 
pressure  and  (her  romantic  notions  of  self -sacrifice,"  she 
would,  in  all  probability,  marry  Bislow  if  her  father  loses 
his  fortune  with  the  defeat  of  this  bill.  So  I  left  every 
thing  to  come  to  you.  I  thought,"  meaningly,  "you 


JOHN"  ASTDFtOSS.  225 

would  be  as  anxious  as  I  to  save  the  young  girl  from  so 
horrible  a  fate.  But  I  have  laid  the  matter  before  you ; 
that's  enough.  I  must  go  now/'  drawing  out  his  watch. 

"  Stop,  Braddock,"  holding  him  by  the  shoulder. 
"  You  are  bewildered,  man.  Somebody  must  have  been 
playing  a  stupendous  practical  joke  on  you.  I  don't 
know  what  you  mean  by  this  talk  of  her  loving  or  marry 
ing  Bislow." 

"I  never  said  she  loved  him,"  colouring  violently  and 
trying  to  disengage  himself. 

"But  you  think" — it  was  Jack  who  was  on  fire  now 
and  breathless — "  you  think  that  her  father  will  drive  her 
into  this  marriage,  and  she — she,  poor  child,  has  ap 
pealed  to  the  man  she  loves  for  help  ?" 

Braddock  saw  the  mistake  that  Andross  had  made. 
But  the  poor  fellow,  he  thought,  would  soon  find  out 
that  Anna  did  not  care  for  him ;  and  in  the  meantime 
it  was  not  for  him  to  betray  the  hapless  secret  of  her  love 
for  himself. 

"  I  have  no  time  to  discuss  the  matter  with  you,  An 
dross.  I  only  say  to  you,  vote  for  the  bill  if  you  can. 
Nothing  you  can  do  hereafter  will  serve  her  as  that  one 
act  to-day  will  do." 

He  shook  himself  loose,  and  without  a  word  further 
hurried  out  of  the  capitol,  and  down  to  the  depot,  just  in 
time  to  see  the  express  train  to  Philadelphia  steam  down 
through  the  cut  between  the  hills. 

"When  will  the  next  train  go  up  ?"  he  inquired  of  the 
station  master. 

"Not  until  eleven  to-night." 

Braddock  turned  and  walked  down  the  street,  not 
knowing  where  he  went.  The  raw  air  was  cutting ;  his 
coat  was  thin  ;  he  was  hungry,  too,  although  he  did  not 
know  it.  He  had  failed  to  meet  Isabel,  failed  in  his 
effort  with  Andross.  He  felt  himself  a  most  uncomfort 
able,  miserable  man  ;  his  only  consolation  being  the  cer- 


226  JOHN  ANDBOSS. 

tainty  that  he  had  done  his  duty  religiously  and  showed 
the  gratitude  of  devotion  to  the  service  of  a  woman  who 
had  thrown  away  her  whole  life's  love  upon  him.  The 
sense  of  his  own  heroism  grew  so  strong  upon  him  that 
:  he  presently  rallied  from  his  depression.  He  would  go 
.back  in  the  late  train.  Isabel  might  be  disappointed, 
but  she  would  forgive  him.  The  wedding  could  be  cele 
brated  to-morrow  just  as  well  as  to-day.  It  was  curious 
that  with  all  this  tenderly-nursed  passion  for  Anna,  he 
never  anticipated  any  other  end  to  his  romance  than  a 
marriage  with  Bell.  That  was  a  solid  entity  in  his  life, 
like  bread  and  meat  or  decent  clothes  or  church-going, 
the  absence  of  which  he  had  never  conceived.  With  the 
assurance  of  his  own  merit  thus  strong  within  him,  he 
went  and  ordered  a  comfortable  dinner. 


OHAPTEE    XXVI. 

BEADDOOK  had  scarcely  left  the  committee  room, 
when  Willitts  entered  it,  "  Alone  here,  Andross  ? 
It's  so  dark  I  can  hardly  see  you,"  he  called  out  famil 
iarly. 

"Yes,"  rising  from  where  he  sat  looking  in  the  fire. 
"I'm  going  up  to  dinner  now.  Those  fellows  brought 
me  home  from  Shreve's  just  as  the  soup  was  taken  off, 
and  on  a  wild  goose  errand.  They  had  nothing  but  the 
old  story  to  tell,  after  all." 

"I  have  something  else  to  say,  now  that  we  are  alone. 
No,  no,  Mr.  Andross,"  lifting  his  hand  deprecatingly. 
"  I  am  not  going  to  insult  you  by  putting  you  on  a  level 
with  such  men  as  McElroy.  But  I  only  want  to  ask  you 
to  give  a  hearing  to  a  friend  of  yours  and  mine  about  this 
matter.  No  man  can  be  so  cool  and  dispassionate  as  you 
in  deciding  on  action,  or  so  little  influenced  by  feeling." 


JOHN  ANDROSS.  227 

"Yes,  I  think  you're  right,  "Willitts;  my  judgment 
and  action  are  usually  pretty  cool.  "Well,  who's  your 
friend?  Though  I  warn  you  it's  of  no  use.  Doctor 
Braddock,  an  old  friend  of  mine,  has  just  been  here  urg 
ing  me  to  change  my  resolution  too.  If  his  reasons  were 

sound  I  would  have  yielded.     But  he's  mistaken "  an 

anxious  cloud  coming  into  his  face.  "It  is  the  most 
ahsurd  story,  he  tells,  that  I  ever  heard  !  He's  certainly 
mistaken." 

"I  don't  know  Dr.  Braddock.  It  is  Judge  Maddox 
who  wants  to  ^ee  you  now.  He  followed  you  to  Shreve's, 
and  missed  you.  Maddox,"  keenly  noting  Andross's 
startled  look,  "  is  deeply  involved  in  this  Transit  busi 
ness.  It  is  either  the  passage  of  the  bill  or  ruin  with 
him." 

"  So  Braddock  told  me,  but  I  did  not  credit  it.  Stay ! 
one  moment  before  you  bring  him  in.  Do  you  know 
whether  it  is  true  that  Bislow  holds  any  of  the  judge's 
paper?" 

"Yes,  and  a  good  deal  of  it,  too."  Willitts  hesitated 
a  moment,  and  then  played  a  card  which  he  felt  to  be 
doubtful.  "I  suppose  you  know  that  Bislow — the  old 
porpoise — would  be  glad  to  marry  Miss  Maddox,  and  in 
that  case  there  would  be  no  trouble.  But  of  course  she 
would  not  consent." 

"  No,"  said  Andross.  But  there  was  a  marked  change 
in  his  manner  after  that.  He  had  a  stunned,  bewildered 
air,  moved  uneasily  and  aimlessly  about  the  room,  a  dif 
ferent  man  from  the  ready,  gallant  fellow  who  faced  the 
crowd  but  half  an  hour  ago. 

Willitts,  drying  his  dainty  boots  turn  by  turn  at  the 
fire,  watched  him  with  an  amused  twinkle  in  his  eye. 
Of  all  that  little  witch's  victims,  John  Andross  was  in 
dubitably  the  worst  hurt,  and  fancied  himself  the  fa 
voured  man,  no  doubt,  he  thought  complacently,  for  he 
was  quite  certain  that  if  Miss  Maddox  really  had  a  ten- 


228  JOHN   ANDEOSS. 

dresseior  any  man,  that  man  was  Ned  Willitfcs.  "I'll 
tell  the  judge  you're  ready  to  see  him;  shall  I  ?"  he  said 
at  last,  going  to  the  door. 

"Yes,  I'll  see  Mm." 

A  moment  after  Judge  Maddox,  more  portly  and  red 
der  about  the  jaws  for  the  town's  high-seasoned  living, 
rolled  and  puffed  into  the  room,  not  an  object,  surely,  for 
veneration ;  but  in  Jack's  eyes  it  was  Anna's  father  who 
came,  and  even  Anna's  dog  was  a  thing  to  be  regarded 
with  care  and  solicitude  by  him.  He  hastened  anxiously 
to  place  a  chair.  * '  I  am  sorry  you  have  had  to  search 
for  me,  Judge,"  he  said  respectfully. 

"Yes.  I've  had  a  chase  !"  blowing  and  panting  more 
than  was  necessary,  while  he  tried  to  determine  the 
proper  relation  in  which  Andross  and  himself  could  meet. 
This  fellow  before  him  had  been  his  clerk  and  handy 
man,  a  few  months  ago  ;  now  he  was  a  leading  politician, 
a  senator,  with  every  chance  of  putting  his  hand  into  the 
money  bags  of  the  Ring  when  he  chose.  The  average 
American,  however,  readily  accommodates  himself  to 
such  metamorphoses  as  these,  and  yields  homage  where 
homage  is  due.  Besides,  the  judge  never  forgot  who 
could- or  could  not  be  of  use  to  him.  There  was  no  trace 
of  familiarity  in  his  manner  as  he  resumed,  coughing 
deferentially.  "It's  worth  a  little  trouble,  however,  to 
find  a  friend,  Mr.  Andross.  That  is,  a  friend  a  man  can 
depend  on.  Like  yourself.  Huh !  I'm  out  of  breath 
with  these  plaguy  stairs !  Well,  sir,  I  came  to  talk  to 
you  about  this  Transit  bill.  It's  to  go  on  its  passage 
to-night." 

"Yes." 

"They  tell  me,"  again  coughing  and  hesitating,  "that 
you  are  opposed  to  it?  I  was  surprised  to  hear  that. 
Very  much  surprised  !  Mr.  Laird  is  your — your  friend. 
What  has  he  got  to  say  about  it  ?  He  hardly  expected  you 
to  fly  the  track  in  that  way." 


Jq"  AKDEOSS.  229 

"You  have  heard  quite  right.  I  have  intended  to  vote 
against  the  bill/'  said  Jack  gravely. 

" Friend  or  no  friend,  eh?  Well,  sir,  thanks  to  this 
man  Laird,  whom  you  can  afford  to  put  out  of  the  ques 
tion,  the  bulk  of  my  property  is  in  that  Transit  stock. 
If  the  bill  fails,  my  financial  credit  is  not  worth  that !" 
filliping  his  thumb. 

"  I  did  not  know  until  to-night  that  you  were  involved 
with  the  company." 

"  And  if  you  had  known,  you  would  have  thought  dif 
ferently  about  your  vote,  eh?"  eagerly.  "That's  what 
you  were  going  to  say  ?  I  knew  you  would  not  fail  me  ! 
I  said  to  Ealston  this  morning  (Ralston  is  in  it  up  to  the 
ears),  '  Don't  be  alarmed.  I've  got  a  friend  at  court !'" 

The  ordinary  spasmodic  vehemence  of  Andross's  man 
ner  was  gone;  he  stood  relaxed,  his  back  against  the 
table,  and  spoke  in  a  dull,  quiet  voice. 

"  I  had  some  principle  involved  in  the  question.    There 
seemed  to  me  objections  to  the  bill,  founded  on  simple 
honesty.     I  have  fought  against  it  for  weeks  for  that, 
reason.    Though  that  may  seem  an  unlikely  thing  for  me  \ 
to  do,"  bitterly. 

"Oh,  not  at  all  unlikely!  It's  a  very  Quixotic  thing 
to  do,  and  very  characteristic  of  John  Andross ! "  be 
trayed  into  a  momentary  tartness.  "You  always  were 
too  chivalric  for  old-fashioned  fogies  like  myself,  you 
know,"  with  a  hasty,  cringing  smile.  "  But  the  chivalry 
in  this  case  would  be  to  come  to  the  relief  of  your  friends, 
it  appears  to  me." 

If  it  were  only  Colonel  Latimer,  Jack  thought  as  he 
looked  at  him,  how  easy  it  would  be  to  explain !  But 
although  this  was  Anna's  father,  he  felt  it  was  useless  to 
utter  a  word  in  self-defence.  The  old  man  sat  trotting 

£} 

his  foot  impatiently,  nursing  the  other  leg  on  his  knee, 
the  black  beady  eyes,  which  gave  cunning  to  the  round, 
red  face,  fixed  with  a  slow  deliberation  on  Andross. 


230  JOHN   AXDROSS. 

"Well,"  smoothing  the  oily  black  mop  of  hair  down 
over  his  forehead  with  an  air  of  sudden  determination, 
fc  I  suppose  my  errrand's  done  !  I  may  go  hunt  Ralston, 
an(t  tell  him  the  game's  up.  If  John  Andross  is  the 
man  to  turn  his  back  on  an  old  friend  when  it's  life  or 
death  with  him,  I  was  mistaken  in  him.  That's  all  there 
is  to  say,"  rising. 

"  Stay,"  lifting  his  hand  to  detain  him,  but  not  looking 
up.  "  I  have  not  said  that  I  would  turn  my  back  on  you." 

The  judge  sat  down  again.  The  defeat  of  the  bill,  as 
Ije  well  knew,  would  not  ruin  him,  but  it  would  cramp 
him  enough  to  make  the  matter  serious.  He  had  brought 
all  the  powers  of  his  brain  (a  Machiavellian  brain,  in  his 
own  judgment)  to  bear  on  this  manipulation  of  Andross. 
fie  meaftt  to  accommodate  himself  to  the  flighty,  high- 
toned  notions  and  language  of  the  fellow,  as  far  as  prac 
ticable. 

"I  don't  wish  to  hint,"  breaking  the  silence  presently, 
"  that  I've  any  claim  whatever  on  you.  That's  not 
way.  When  I  remind  a  man  of  an  obligation,  I  cancel  it. 
When  I  took  you  into  the  Works,  Mr.  Andross,  without 
>any  reference  or  introduction  but  young  Braddock's 
word,  I  certainly  never  expected  the  day  would  come 
when  I  should  beg  a  favour  in  return  of  you.  I  had  no 
ulterior  motive  in  it.  I  don't  bring  that  into  considera 
tion  at  all." 

"I  know,"  interrupted  Andross  harshly,  "what  mj* 
debt  of  gratitude  is  to  you.  I  am  not  apt  to  forget  a 
kindness." 

Both  men  were  silent  again.  Once  or  twice  Jack  raised 
his  head  as  if  to  speak,  but  when  he  met  the  gross, 
shrewd  countenance  before  him,  heshut  his  mouth  more 
firmly. «  He  burst  at  last  into  an  angry,  feeble  laugh. 

"  Braddock,  now,  could  settle  this  matter  with  a  word. 
When  he  knows  what's  right,  he  puts  his  foot  down,  and 
there  is  the  end  of  it.  I  don't  know  why  I  should  be 


AXDKOSS.  231 

more  unlucky  than  other  men.  I  never  made  up  my 
mind  in  my  life,  but  a  dozen  considerations  interfered  to 
pull  me  this  way  and  that " 

"That's  because  you've  a  heart.'  Braddock's  a  dry, 
sapless  sort  of  a  fellow.  I'd  never  expect  him  to  be 
moved  by  gratitude  or  friendship." 

Andross  walked  nervously  to  the  door — back  again, 
stopped  by  the  table. 

'  "They  tell  me,  Judge,  that  Bislow  holds  your  paper. 
Is  he  disposed  at  all  to  press  you  ?" 

"I  don't  know  who  has  been  so  busy  in  gossiping 
about  my  affairs,"  irritably.  "No,  Bislow  is  not  going 
to  disturb  me.  He's  too  anxious  to  stand  well  with  me 
just  now,"  with  a  significant  chuckle.  "  The  trutH  is," 
his  eyes  gathering  a  sudden  intelligence,  "  Bislow  wants 
something  from  me  worth  more  than  money." 

"And  you  intend  to  give  her  to  him  ?" 

"No,  sir;  no.  I  can't  entertain  such  an  Idea  as  that. 
Of  course,  looked  at  in  a  mercenary  point  *>f  view,  it 

would  be  a  good  match ;  but .  Well,  the  truth  is, 

Jack,"  with  a  sudden  outburst  of  frankness,  "I  know 
how  the  child's  fancy  turns,  and  I  always  meant  to  in 
dulge  it.  You  and  I  have  talked  of  this  matter  before, 
and  when  I  came  up  to  see  you  on  this  Transit  matter 
to-day,  I  really  felt  as  if  I  were  approaching  a — a  mem 
ber  of  my  own  family.  Well,  I  may  as  well  be  frank, 
and  say — a  son." 

"  I  thank  you,  Judge  Maddox."  Andross's  eyes  flashed, 
his  breath  came  quickly,  the  hand  he  held  out  burned. 
He  did  not  remember  that  when  they  talked  of  the  mat 
ter  but  a  week  or  two  ago,  the  judge  had  undoubtedly 
been  exceedingly  cool  about  receiving  him  as  a  son.  It 
was  not  Jack's  habit  to  remember,  or  to  reason. 

She  was  his — at  last !  He  was  conscious  now  of  how 
long  foe  had  waited  for  her — how  hard  the  struggle  had 
been.  He  held  the  old  •  man's  hand  tight  clenched  a 


232  JOH^T  AXDROSS. 

minute.     It  did  not  occur  to  him  that  he  ought  to  say  a 
word  more.     The  flood  of  joy  swept  all  thought  away. 

Judge  Mnddox  was  fond  of  Anna,  and  had  really  a 
warm  feeling  for  Jack.  "Why,  why,  boy!"  looking  at 
his  face  not  ill-pleased,  "  I  did  not  think  you  cared  for 
my  little  Nan  in  this  way  !  God  bless  you  both,  I  say. 
Why,  certainly!  The  wedding  can  be  arranged  as  soon 
as  you  *two  choose,  and  we  shall  all  be  comfortable  to 
gether."  Jack  would  vote  for  the  bill;  his  own  money 
would  be  saved,  and  Laird,  being  satisfied,  would  no 
doubt  find  a  permanent  place  for  Andross,  which  would 
make  Anna  a  rich  woman  for  life.  "Yes;  we'll  all  be 
comfortable,"  he  repeated.  "Well,  shall  we  go  down 
and  have  some  dinner  at  the  Lochiel  House  ?  You  young 
fellows  can  live  on  raptures,  but  I  must  look  out  for  my 
stomach.  I've  been  fasting  since  seven  o'clock." 

Jack  laughed  as  though  the  judge's  wit  were  of  the 
finest  order ;  helped  him  put  on  his  coat,  and  held  his 
cane  while  he  buttoned  it.  The  square  room,  the  dull 
fire,  the  tobacco-stained  carpet,  the  vacant  desk  waiting 
for  him  in  the  senate  chamber  yonder — all  had  vanished 
out  of  the  world ;  instead,  the  dreams  for  years  which  his 
delicate  fancy  or  warm  passion  had  by  turn  conjured  to 
make  his  dull  life  brighter,  were  suddenly  reality  to  him  : 
glowing,  nearing,  ready  to  be  grasped.  He  followed  the 
judge  mechanically ;  the  old  man  taking  his  arm  when 
they  reached  the  lighted  rotunda.  Maddox  liked  to  be 
seen  leaning  on  the  arm  of  the  young,  popular  senator ; 
he  scanned  the  fine  mobile  face  and  gallant  bearing,  and 
even  tl;&  well-fitting  furred  overcoat  approvingly.  He 
would  have  every  reason  to  be  proud  of  his  son-in-law — 
when  Laird  should  have  given  him  a  permanent  place. 

"You'll  come  down  to  town  with  me  to-night?"  he 
whispered  confidentially  as  they  passed  through  the 
groups  in  the  hall.  "I'll  wait  until  the  one  A.  M.  train. 
They  will  have  voted  on  thetbill  before  that." 


AKDEOSS.  233 

"  The  bill  ?"  Andross  stopped  short.  He  looked  at  the 
judge  as  if  awakened  from  a  sleep.  "  I  had  forgotten 
the  bill."  He  stood  without  speaking  so  long  that  Mad- 
dox  dropped  his  arm. 

"You  certainly  do  not  mean  to  refuse  me  now?" 

Andross  looked  him  straight  in  the  face,  without  an 
swering. 

"Ah,  you've  finished  your  quarrel?"  said  Willitts, 
leaving  a^group  of  men,  and  tripping  gaily  up  to  them, 
"  or  was  it  a  friendly  bargain  ?  How  is  it  with  the  Tran 
sit  Company,  Andross  ?  '  To  be,  or  not  to  be  ?'" 

'  "I'll  vote  for  their  bill,  of  course,"  said  Andross,  with 
a  sudden  burst  of  loud  heartiness.  "I  can't  turn  my 
back  on  my  friends ;  can  I  ?" 

"Well  done!  well  done,  Judge !"  whispered  Willitts, 
as  he  passed  them  with  ill-concealed  excitement. 

He  had  no  mind  that  Jack  should  know  how  imminent 
were  the  issues  that  hung  on  his  decision.  Without  a 
word  farther,  he  hurried  off  to  telegraph  to  Laird  and  to 
the  Philadelphia  stockholders.  As  he  passed  the  atten 
tive,  waiting  crowd  that  he  had  just  left,  he  nodded  sig 
nificantly  to  them.  The  next  moment  they  had  sur 
rounded  Andross,  joking  and  congratulating  him. 

"All  the  better  for  us,"  said  one  squeaking  voice, 
rising  above  the  din,  "that  you  turned  your  coat.  But 
the  speed  with  which  you  turned  it — that  was  re — mark- 
able!" 

"At  least,  Mr.  McElroy,  there  was  no  padding  in  the 
lining!"  retorted  Jack.  "That  will  do,  gentlemen," 
motioning  them  aside  haughtily.  "  There's  no  room  for 
congratulations ;  every  other  corporation  has  its  hand  in 
the  public  pocket ;  why  not  yours  ?  As  for  me,"  turning 
to  the  judge,  "Jack  Andross  has  his  price  now,  like  tho 
rest  of  them,"  with  a  laugh  which  Maddox  felt  to  be  un 
intentionally  discordant  and  insulting. 


234  JOII^"   ANDROSS. 

CHAPTER    XXVII. 

T3  HADDOCK,  when  he  entered  the  lighted  depot  to 
•*-*  wait  for  the  express  train  for  the  West,  ran  against  ( 
"Ware,  who  was  walking  up  and  down,  wrapped  in  an 
ample  cloak,  and  in  a  certain  loftiness  of  purpose  so  ap 
parent  as  to  attract  the  admiration  of  the  row  of  working 
women  inside,  ranged  against  the  wall,  their  satchels  at 
their  feet.  Every  one  of  them,  principally  on  the  basis 
of  his  light  gloves,  set  him  down  as  an  aristocrat,  and 
eyed  him  with  the  good-humoured  envy  or  wrath  which 
the  individual  penniless  American  cherishes  to  that  class. 
Braddock,  lean,  anxious,  shabbily  clothed,  whose  arm 
Ware  took  and  leaned  on  in  an  airy  magnificent  way, 
they  recognized  at  once  as  a  poor  dependent. 

"So  you  go  back  successful  in  your  errand,  Doctor 
Braddock?" 

"  No.     Andross  gave  me  no  definite  promise." 

"You  know  he  has  promised  somebody  to  vote  for  the 
bill?" 

"I  heard  so  at  the  Lochiel  House  just  now.  But  it 
was  in  answer  to  no  solicitations  of  mine,"  coldly. 

"  Of  your  companion's  then.     It  is  all  the  same." 

The  doctor  noticed  now  that  Ware's  thin  skin  was  red 
dened,  and  his  manner  irritated,  either  with  liquor  or 
some  suppressed  emotion.  fi  I  saw  Mr.  Andross,"  he 
continued,  "a  few  moments  ago,  going  into  a  private 
parlour  of  the  hotel,  where  Judge  Maddox  and  his  daugh 
ter  were  waiting  for  him.  There  was  a  fine  supper  ready 
for  them ;  the  young  man  was  to  be  summoned  to  the 
capitol  when,  the  bill  was  called.  Probably  that  young 
lady's  affections  were  thrown  into  the  scale  with  whatever 
bribe  was  offered  him.  There's  a  good  deal  of  specula 
tion  to-night  as  to  how  he  was  bought." 

"No  bribe  was  offered  to  him."  Braddock  stopped 
and  drew  off  from  Ware.  "And  no  manly  man,"  lower- 


JOHtf  ANDROSS.  235 

ing  his  voice,  "  would  bring  Miss  Maddox's  name  into 
this  discussion.  If  you  knew  her  you  would  feel  the 
grossness  of  your  suspicion." 

""Well,  no  need  to  be  ill-humoured  about  it.  How 
should  I  know  the  young  woman  ?"  with  a  coarse  laugh. 
"Ah!  here  comes  Laird's  whipper-in,  Willitts.  A  nice 
fellow.  You  ought  to  make  his  acquaintance.  Some 
thing's  wrong.  He's  going  to  telegraph  Laird,  I'll  wager 
you  a  dollar." 

,He  waited  until  Willitts  came  out  of  the  telegraph 
office,  and  then  clapped  him  on  the  shoulder  with  a  loud, 
"How  goes  it,  Ned?" 

Willitts  shrugged  his  narrow  shoulders.  "You've  a 
playful  touch,  like  the  blow  of  a  sledge-hammer.  It's 
going  well  enough,  or  will  to-morrow." 

"What  ?    How's  that  ?"  eagerly.     " Postponed  ?" 

"Ford  and  his  party,  who  oppose  the  bill,  as  soon  as 
they  heard  Andross  had  come  over,  determined  to  shove 
it  off  until  next  session.  They  may  talk  it  down  to 
night,  perhaps.  But  it  shall  go  through  to-inorrow." 
He  hurried  past  them. 

"  He  talks  as  if  he  had  the  whip  in  his  hand,  and  the 
dogs  yelping  about  his  heels,"  said  Ware.  "  Did  you  see 
my  bills?"  pointing  to  a  flaming  poster.  "A  Life  of 
Faith.  Jung  Stilling.  Lecture  ly  Julius  Ware.  With 
Songs!  The  songs  were  an  idea  of  my  own.  They  draw, 
I  find.  No  charge  at  the  door.  People  like  anything 
which  costs  them  nothing.  Eev.  Catharine  Small  intro 
duced  me,  and  after  the  lecture  last  night  she  got  up  and 
stated  that  /  was  the  modern  Jung  Stilling.  I  never  was 
so  astonished  in  my- life.  I  felt  as  if  I  could  sink  into 
the  ground  with  confusion,"  pinching  and  fumbling  his 
white  bull's  neck,  smilingly.  "  But  these  women  !  One 
never  knows  where  to  expect  them !  After  that,  of 
course,  came  a  collection,  and  a  very  nice  sum  it  was  ! " 

Braddock  bade  him  a  curt  good-night,  and  hurried 


236  JOHN   AKDROSS. 

down  to  meet  the  train,  whose  bright,  red  eye  of  light 
he  saw  approaching  through  the  darkness.  He  felt  an 
indescribable  nausea  for  the  whole  affair — Ware,  Mad- 
dox,  bills  and  bribes ;  the  very  air  about  him  was  unclean, 
sickening,  heavy  with  the  smell  of  stale  tobacco  smoke 
and  decayed  fruit.  He  was  out  of  humour  with  everybody 
but  himself.  He,  at  least,  had  done  his  duty  nobly ;  and 
he  began  to  be  glad  that  he  was  going  back  to  clean  ways 
of  dealing,  and  to  Isabel.  After  he  was  aboard  of  the 
train,  he  tried  to  bring  Anna  back  as  she  had  seemed  to 
him  lately.  Marry  whom  he  might,  that  gentle  womanly 
presence  must  abide  with  him  spiritually,  a  priceless  pos 
session.  But  he  could  not ;  she  somehow  made  a  part  of 
the  sickly,  unpleasant  whole,  i  He  could  not  separate  her 
from  her  atmosphere". 

Isabel  was  a  reality ;  she  would  recognize  the  courage 
and  prudence  of  his  conduct.  Isabel  had  always  been 
foolishly  inclined  to  make  a  demi-god  out  of  him ;  he  had 
a  suppressed  conviction  that  now  she  would  have  reason 
to  do  it. 

While  the  train  bearing  Dr.  Braddock  to  his  postponed 
nuptials  was  steaming  into  the  suburbs  of  Philadelphia, 
Colonel  Latimer  and  Miss  Morgan  were  seated  at  break 
fast.  The  door  opened,  and  Isabel  came  quietly  in  and 
took  a  seat.  Miss  Morgan,  who  had  not  gained  admis 
sion  to  Bell's  room  all  night-,  was  discomfited ;  it  showed 
in  her  wandering  eye,  in  the  very  knot  of  her  purple 
necktie.  In  all  her  experience  she  had  never  before 
passed  through  the  crisis  of  a  wedding  deferred  by  an 
unwilling  bridegroom.  No  such  supreme  disaster  had 
ever  occurred  to  a  Morgan. 

"When  any  calamity  did  happen  to  a  member  of  my 
family,  that  member  of  my  family  never  was  able  to  eat 
anything  whatever,"  she  said  emphatically,  after  declin 
ing  an  egg  and  eyeing  Isabel  with  mingled  alarm  and  in- 


JOH>T   AKDROSS.  237 

dignation.  "But  the  Morgans  have  very  acute  feelings — 
very  acute.  You  may  see  that  I  am  too  sensitive  for  my 
own  good,  even  now.  No,  Colonel;  no  waffles  for  me. 
Hand  them  to  Isabel;  I  have  no  appetite.  After  my 
sister  Ann's  husband — Mr.  Stemson — died  (he  was  a 
judge  of  the  supreme  court  of  this  state,  you  remember, 
Colonel),  she  had  the  window-shutters  hung  with  black 
for  two  years,  and  Ann  herself  lived  on  oatmeal  mush  for 
that  entire  summer.  Wholly  on  oatmeal  in  different 
forms  !  I  used  to  tempt  her  with  sweetbreads  and  jelly 
and  things;  but  she  would  cry:  'Take  it  away!  Leave 
me  to  my  sorrow. 9  But  if  Mr.  Stemson  had  not  married 
her  at  all — if  he  had  disappeared  on  the  wedding-day — I 
am  sure  not  even  oatmeal ': 

"For  heaven's  sake,  Cousin  Arabella,  don't  nag  the 
child  any  longer ! "  cried  the  colonel  under  his  breath, 
desperate  even  to  incivility.  "The  miserable  morsel  she 
has  eaten  need  not  offend  your  sense  of  propriety.  Can't 
you  see  that  she  is  keeping  up  for  my  sake  ?" 

"  Then  don't  keep  up,  Bell,  darling.  I  do  see  it ! 
There's  not  the  colour  of  blood  in  your  face.  Go  to  bed 
at  once,"  fussing  and  clucking  affectionately  about  her. 
"  There's  nothing  so  unwholesome  as  keeping  up.  Be 
sides,  it's  absolutely  indelicate  under  the  circumstances. 
Go  to  your  room,  and  I'll  bring  up  a  foot-bath  and  a  cup 
of  tea  directly. 

"  I  would  rather  take  chocolate  now,  thank  you,"  said 
Isabel,  pouring  out  a  cup  with  a  steady  hand.  "Why 
should  I  go  to  bed?"  smiling.  •  "I  am  not  ill,  nor  a 
widow. " 

"No,  dear  child!  Would  that  you  were!"  shaking 
her  head  mournfully.  "  Heaven  knows  I  care  little  for 
the  opinion  of  the  world,  and  yet  one  can  not  but  reflect 

— .  The  very  milkman  and  baker  ask  questions.  And 

that  censorious  Mrs.  Lamping she  will  assuredly  be 

up  before  an  hour." 


238  JOHN   AXDROSS. 

Miss  Latimer  listened,  calmly  sipping  her  chocolate, 
and  then  touched  the  bell  beside  her.  "  Otho,  is  the 
fire  burning  brightly  in  the  library  ?  Doctor  Braddock 
will  be  here  presently,  and  I  shall  see  him  there.  Papa, 
the  flue  in  that  chimney  needs  repairing.  The  room  is 
seldom  warm  enough." 

Miss  Morgan  stared  in  astonishment.  "  It  is  not  possi 
ble,  Colonel  Latimer,"  she  said,  when  the  door  closed 
behind  Oth o,  "  that  you  will  allow  her  to  meet  this  man 
again?  Hush,  child,  this  is  a  matter  for  your  elders. 
You  will  treat  him  as  an  army  officer  and  a  man  of  hon 
our  should  do,  Thomas  ?" 

" Patience,  Arabella,  patience!"  begged  the  poor 
colonel.  "  I  will  treat  him  as  a  man  should  a  man.  My 
daughter" — he  stopped,  passing  his  bony  hand  hastily 
over  the  high-featured,  thin  face,  in  which  all  sign  of 
agitation  had  been  held  down  and  mastered  that  day — 
"  my  little  girl,  if  Doctor  Braddock  comes  again  to  the 
house,  it  does  seem  best  to  me  that  you  should  not  re 
ceive  him." 

Isabel  turned,  and  for  the  first  time  that  morning  her 
father  looked  fairly  into  her  face.  There  were  certain 
lines  in  it  which  never  had  been  there  before.  The  old 
man,  leaning  forward  on  the  table,  read  them  as  open 
letters  in  a  book. 

One  day,  at  the  taking  of  Vicksburg,  it  had  fallen  to 
Thomas  Latimer's  lot  to  recognize,  through  his  field- 
glass,  in  the  ensign  of  a  rebel  company,  his  nephew ;  a 
lad  whom  he  had  brought  up  with  Bell  as  his  own  son, 
but  who  had  gone  to  join  Beauregard  at  the  beginning  of 
the  war. 

The  young  fellow,  colours  in  hand,  stood  on  a  broken 
wall  surrounded  on  every  side.  There  was  no  chance  for 
him.  The  colonel  could  neither  help  nor  hinder ;  he  sat 
on  his  horse  immovable,  while  Dick,  steady  and  cool  as 
ever,  braced  himself  against  the  wall  and  waved  the  torn 


JOHST    AXDROSS.  239 

flag  defiantly  until  he  fell,  when  he  shook  it  feebly  up 
with  his  last  breath.  The  colonel  gave  a  tremendous 
shout  of  triumph,  but  his  jaws  lost  colour  under  the  gray 
whiskers  as  he  put  up  his  field-glass. 

"It  was  a  young  fellow  that  I  saw  shot  yonder/' he 
said  by  way  of  apology  to  the  general.  "  He  belongs  to 
a  family  that  I  know.  They  don't  make  mucH,  show  in 
the  world,  but  they've  got  staying  power  in  them." 

As  he  looked  at  Bell  now,  he  suddenly  remembered 
Dick,  going  down  into  death,  waving  his  poor  rag ;  his 
eyes  kindled,  then  he  touched  her  hand  gently  and  pity 
ingly,  as  her  mother  would  have  done. 

"  Do  as  you  think  right,  child.  You  are  a  better  judge 
than  I,"  he  said.  "Come  away,  Arabella.  I  wish  to 
speak  with  you." 

Miss  Morgan  followed  him  with  a  jerky  solemnity ;  but 
before  they  had  opened  the  door,  Isabel  interposed  with 
the  same  steady,  tranquil  voice. 

"Whatever  opinion  you  may  form  in  this  matter, 
cousin,  I  wish  you  to  understand  that  Doctor  Braddock 
is  not  at  all  to  blame.  He  doubtless  went  to  Harrisburgh 
to  serve  Miss  Maddox.  She  is  an  old  friend  of — of — our 
family,  and  Clay  was  only  doing  his  duty  to  me  in  serving 
my  friend.  Very  probably  when  he  comes  he  will  think 
it  necessary  for  me  to  go  down  to  Anna,  to  aid  or  comfort 
her.  If  he  does,  I  shall  certainly  go." 

"And  I  will  certainly  not  obtrude  any  of  my  old-fash 
ioned  notions  of  decorum  upon  you,  Isabel,"  said  Miss 
Morgan  gently.  But  when  she  was  alone  with  the  colonel, 
her  purple  ribbons  fluttered,  her  beaded  tags  jingled 
with  her  excitement,  and  the  tears  were  in  her  eyes. 
"  She  makes  an  idol  of  the  man  still,"  she  cried.  "  Oh  ! 
the  weakness  of  the  silly  child  ! " 

"Does  she ?"  said  the  colonel  doubtfully. 

"  She  worships  him  !  It  was  always  a  blind  infatuation, 
and  it  is  just  like  one  of  our  sex  to  persist  in  it.  Always 


240  JOHN    AXDROSS. 

loving,  trusting  !  ( To  build  up  idols,  and  never  to  find 
out  they're  clay/  or  however  the  poem  reads.  Nothing 
rail  open  Bell's  eyes,  nothing  ever  opens  a  true  woman's 
eyes  to  faults  in  those  she  loves,  but  death." 

"I  don't  know  about  that,"  thoughtfully.  "But 
we'll  not  interfere,  Arabella.  Do  you  know  I'm  really 
sorry  for  Brad  dock?  He  was  a  good  fellow,  and  such 
love  as  Isabel  gave  him  would  have  made  a  man  of  him. 
It's  very  unaccountable,  this  behaviour ;  but  still  I  think 
he  very  likely  could  give  an  explanation  that  ought  to 
satisfy  a  rational  woman." 

"  Bell  does  not  want  any  explanation !  She  will  ask 
for  none  ! " 

"  No,  I  don't  think  she  will.  Well,"  with  a  smothered 
sigh,  "  I  must  say  I  liked  the  lad.  What  is  it,  Otho  ?" 

"  Mr.  Bowyer,  sah.     'Pears  in  great  haste." 

"I'm  coming."  But  the  colonel  was  a  long  time  in 
coming,  going  to  his  chamber  and  exchanging  his  slip 
pers  for  boots  ;%  whistling  snatches  of  what  seemed  to  be 
some  miserable,  tuneless  dirge,  and  meditating  on  the 
amount  of  "staying  power"  of  the  Latimers — women  as 
well  as  men.  As  soon,  however,  as  he  was  out  of  his 
morning-gown,  and  installed  in  his  stiff  office-suit,  these 
lax  domestic  feelings  were  sent  to  the  right-about.  "Ask 
Mr.  Bowyer  to  come  up,  Otho,"  he  called,  going  down 
the  stairs  with  his  most  rigid,  military  air;  "I  am  ready 
for  business." 

Oth  hurried  back,  with  a  scared  glance  behind  him. 
•lie  had  just  convoyed  Doctor  Braddock  to  the  library, 
and  had  noted,  from  the  immaculate  neatness  of  his 
scuffed  clothes  to  the  complacent  smile,  the  indomitable 
virtue  which  asserted  itself  in  that  hero,  from  head  to 
foot. 

"  Neber  do  to  let  Mass  Thomas  see  him  look  like  dat ! " 
thought  the  peace-loving  Oth. 

Miss  Latimer  was  seated  by  the  fire,  her  work-basket 


JOHN   AKDROSS.  241 

beside  her  and  sewing  in  hand.  Miss  Morgan  had  already 
visited  the  room  once  or  twice  out  of  interest  in  the  flue, 
scrutinizing  the  quiet  face  sharply.  Oth,  opening  the 
door  for  Braddock,  turned  his  woolly  head  carefully  away 
from  it. 

Doctor  Braddock  laid  his  hat  and  gloves  down  on  a 
tahle  as  he  passed  it,  and  came  up  to  her.  (( I  am  here 
at  last,  Isabel." 

"Good  morning,  Clay.  There  is  a  chair  near  the  fire." 
She  put  aside  her  work,  as  she  would  have  done  cour 
teously  for  any  stranger.  Braddock,  as  he  came  up  the 
stairs,  had  for  the  first  time  been  conscious  .that  Isabel, 
who  had  loved  him  faithfully  for  years,  might  have  cause 
to  feel  herself  insulted  and  aggrieved.  There  might  be 
tears  and  reproaches  and  trembling  of  the  Anna  kind,  he 
thought,  with  a  qualm,  for,  in  fact,  he  had  enjoyed  tears 
and  trembling  to  satiety  during  the  last  day  or  two.  Or 
Bell  might  receive  him  with  indignant  hauteur,  or  a  cold 
disdain,  which  would  speedily  melt  away  into  her  old 
blushing,  tender  manner.  The  possibility  never  entered 
the  man's  narrow  brain  that  she  could  love  him  less. 
Braddock  imagined  thus  hastily  his  probable  reception, 
taking  scenes  out  of  the  few  novels  he  had  read  as  the 
basis  of  his  guesses.  But  Bell  had  not  learned  the  man 
ners  of  novel  heroines,  and  would  not  fit  into  any  melo 
dramatic  scene  of  real  life.  Whatever  processes  of  pain 
or  resolve  had  gone  on  within,  she  was  the  same  out 
wardly — slow,  downright,  simple.  She  lifted  some  muslin 
from  the  chair  to  make  room  for  him,  and  stroked  ,the 
dog  with  a  good-humoured  laugh  when  he  stumbled 
over  it. 

Yet  Braddock,  after  an  awkward  remark  or  two  upon 
the  morning,  sat  silent,  oppressed  by  an  alarm  and  dread 
such  as  he  had  never  felt  before.  He  quite  forgot  the 
magnanimous  part  that  he  had  played. 

Neither  anger  nor  tears,  nor  shy  blushes  from  Isabel, 


£42  JOHK   ANDROSS. 

for  this  common-sensed  woman,  habitually  grave  and 
slow  of  speech,  had  been  shy  and  blushing  with  her 
lover,  and  garrulous  sometimes  as  a  child.  He  had  un 
consciously  been  flattered  until  his  vanity  burned  high, 
by  the  indescribable  difference  in  her  manner  toward 
(other  men  and  himself.  Laird  (of  whom  he  had  always 
i  had  an  indefinable  jealousy)  had  spoken  of  her  once  as  a 
white  house  rose,  or  some  tame  domestic  bird,  to  be  held 
sacred  beyond  all  others,  because  it  made  home  more 
homelike.  Laird  might  make  such  fantastic  compli 
ments,  but  she  was  his ;  it  was  only  for  him  the  flower 
opened  its  inmost  leaves,  and  the  bird  sang  its  song. 

But  to-day  she  met  him  precisely  as  if  he  had  been 
Mr.  Laird.  There  was  the  matter-of-fact  hospitality,  the 
ready  courtesy,  the  kindly  smile — everything  but  love. 

"Isabel,"  rising,  so  great  was  the  effort  he  made  to 
speak  in  his  usual  didactic  manner,  "I  see  that  you  ap 
pear  both  grieved  and  surprised  that  I  did  not  return 
yesterday.  You  have  not  heard  any  explanation.  You 

"Well,  I  consider  that  I  did  my  duty  to  you,  and — 

and  other  friends  honourably  and — I  really  expected, 
Bell,"  giving  way  to  a  little  snappishness  of  tone,  "that 
you,  at  least,  would  approve  of  my  conduct." 

"Very  probably  it  deserves  approval;  but,"  with  a 
feeble  smile,  "I  may  not  be  Spartan  enough  to  judge 
fairly.  I  shall  not  try."  He  noticed  as  her  face  came 
between  him  and  the  light  its  utter  lack  of  colour.  She 
suffered  then ;  she  was  not  insensible.  She  would  come 
to  him  for  strength  and  comfort,  as  Anna  did.  If  he 
could  ever  once,  for  one  half  minute,  have  been  mor 
ally  certain  that  he  was  Isabel's  superior,  how  fondly  he 
would  have  loved  her !  The  thought  of  her  actual  pain 
now  gave  his  heart  a  real  pang  and  wrench,  very  different 
from  the  mawkish  sentimental  sympathy  he  gave  to  Anna's 
woes.  But  if  Isabel  needed  comfort,  it  was  not  he  who 
could  give  it  to  her.  She  turned  her  eyes  to  the  window, 


ANDROSS.  243  . 

where  the  snow  was  falling  softly,  as  if  she  had  forgotten 
that  he  was  in  the  room.  It  was  the  first  minute  since 
he  knew  her,  that  he  was  sure  that  this  strong  woman, 
at  heart,  was  weak  and  clinging,  and  with  the  knowledge 
came  the  certainty  that  he  never  would  be  the  man  who 
should  give  her  what  she  needed.  Who  then  ?  Perhaps 
Laird.  Doctor  Braddock  grew  hot  with  a  jealousy  which, 
under  the  circumstances,  was  hardly  just. 

"You  treat  me  unfairly,  Isabel,"  he  broke  out  angrily. 
"  I  tell  you  that  I  have  done  my  duty,  and  you  refuse  to 
hear  me.  You  never  loved  me,  or  you  would  not  mis 
judge  me.  I  went,  as  I  sent  you  word  in  my  message, 
with  Miss  Maddox,  on  business  almost  as  urgent  as 
death." 

( '  I  received  no  message,  Clay.  Probably,"  looking  up 
at  him  gravely,  "you  entrusted  it  to  Anna." 

"Yes,  to  ensure  its  coming  with  more  certainty. 
Listen  to  me,  Isabel."  He  sat  down  beside  her;  he 
shifted  his  feet,  crumpled  his  gloves,  talked  with  sudden 
spurts  of  energy.  He  was  alarmed,  nervous  from  head 
to  foot.  Gould  Anna  have  delayed  the  message  ?  Tricked 
him  through  all  this  affair  ? 

"Bell,  do  not  speak  to  me  until  I  tell  you  the  whole 
matter — all  of  it."  And  he  told  her  Anna's  sad  di 
lemma,  and  his  own  heroic  effort  to  rescue  her,  omitting, 
as  we  may  be  very  sure,  all  mention  of  the  semi-passion 
which  had  inspired  his  heroism,  the  rewarding  moon-  \ 
beam  smiles  and  glances  of  the  rescued  maiden,  and  all 
the  hot-house,  unhealthy  fervor  which  had  made  his  ex 
ploit  appear  like  a  romantic  deed  of  derring-do  to  him, 
instead  of  a  trip  on  the  Pennsylvania  Central  to  Harris-  ' 
burgh.  He  was  quite  conscious  as  he  talked,  of  the  bald 
ness  of  the  narrative  without  this  impalpable  colouring, 
and  saw  his  adventure  himself  through  the  very  common 
place  medium  in  which  it  came  to  Isabel.  She  was  so 
slow  and  short-sighted,  he  remembered,  comforting  him- 


244  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

self,  that  she  would  never  suspect  the  hidden  romance 
which  the  bare  facts  did  not  translate.  But  there  is  no 
microscope  like  jealousy ;  his  haste,  a  sudden  catching  of 
the  breath  now  and  then — there  was  the  whole  truth  laid 
bare.  He  waited,  looking  on  the  ground  when  he  had 
finished ;  he  had  not  courage  to  face  her. 

"  It  was  hardly  worth  while  to  tell  me  this  story,"  she 
said  quietly.  "  I  knew  much  of  it  before.  I  could  have 
told  you  years  ago  that  Anna  Maddox  had  her  poor  little 
brain  filled  with  cheap  romances,  and  even  as  a  school 
girl  had  a  certain  aptitude  at  assuming  the  role  of  heroine 
in  them." 

"You  are  unjust  beyond  belief!  But  no  matter!" 
suddenly  cooling  into  irony,  and  waving  his  fingers  with 
a  gesture  of  indifference.  "  Go  on.  She  is  a  woman. 
"We  all  know  the  mercy  women  have  for  the  one  of  their 
sex  whose  beauty  men  value  ! " 

Isabel  waited  patiently  until  he  had  finished.  When 
she  spoke,  her  voice  never  had  seemed  so  simple  or 
earnest  before  to  him :  it  cowed  and  shamed  his  weak 
rage  in  spite  of  himself.  "I  knew  what  Jack  Andross 
was  before  now,  too  ;  how  the  man  has  struggled  to  serve 
God,  and  to  play  the  part  of  a  man,  while  Anna  has 
tempted  him  to  serve  the  devil.  I  know  how  easy  it  has 
been  for  him  to  fall,  and  how  hard  to  stand  alone.  I 
never  told  you  or  anybody,  even  papa,  how,  or  where  I 
found  him  in  the  mountains  that  day,  nor  the  words  he 
spoke  to  me  in  his  misery.  After  that  I  understood  him 
well,  and  that  poor  creature  that  he  loves.  I  am  not 
surprised  that  she  has  dragged  him  down.  But " 

"But  what,  Isabel  ?  "  Braddock's  lean  body  grew  fixed 
in  his  chair.  What  if  she  were  right  ?  What,  if  she, 
young  and  fair  and  innocent,  were  indeed  a  righteous 
judge,  and  he,  the  poor  weak  -dupe  of  a  weaker,  wicked 
woman  ? 

"I  almost  know  what  the  end  must  be  for  him,"  she 


JOHN   ANDROSS.  245 

said.  "He  was  ready  to  give  up  his  manhood  or  his  soul 
any  day  to  that  lightheaded,  vicious  child.  But  I  never 
thought  that  you  would  be  the  tool  which  she  would  use 
to  drag  him  down  at  last.  I  never  looked  for  that !  I — I 
trusted  you  so,  Clay  !" 

"And  you  don't  trust  me  now  ?"  with  a  spasmodic 
effort  to  feel  wronged  and  indignant.  "  I  tell  you, 
Isabel,  you  know  nothing  about  them,  or  human  nature, 

either.  Andross  !  Andross  is  a .  But  no  matter  for 

that !  Only  I  will  say  that  at  the  very  time  he  was  win 
ning  your  pity  and  tears,  hiding  in  the  mountains,  he 
was  a  felon,  and  might  have  been  marched  off  to  a  con 
vict's  cell  if  it  had  not  been — if  it  had  not  been  for  some 
people  who  never  will  be  thanked  for  what  they  did  !  As 
for  Anna,  the  poor  child  is  as  pure  and  artless  as  one  of 
God's  angels — I'll  stake  my  life  on  that  !  And  I  consider, 
Isabel,"  finding  his  courage  and  self -approval  oozing  back 
by  degrees,  "  that  you  are  hardly  as  good  a  judge  of  the 
moral  issues  involved  in  this  bill,  of  which  you  do  not 
even  know  the  name,  as  I,  a  man,  supposed  to  know 
something  of  politics,  and  who  have  read  it  carefully 
clause  by  clause.  It  is  a  habit  with  most  women,7'  in  a 
lofty  tone  of  patronage  towards  "  the  sex,"  "  to  elect 
themselves  moral  censors  in  matters  whose  bearings  they 
can  not  possibly  understand.  But  I  hoped  you  were 
superior  to  such — such  inconsequent  weakness.  You  are 
not  listening  to  me  ?"  sharply.  "You  look  out  of  the 
window  all  morning  as  if  I  were  not  here." 

She  turned  quickly,  the  tears  rising  uncontrollably 
into  her  eyes. 

"You  are  not  here  !  You  are  not  the  Clay  Braddock 
that  I  knew.  I  lost  him  yesterday  ;  and  he  will  never 
come  to  me  again — never — never  ! " 

"Isabel?" 

He  did  not  dare  to  touch  her,  or  to  put  his  arm  about 
her,  although  he  thought  she  would  fall.  Could  it  be 


246  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

that  he  had  ever  come  near  enough  to  her  to  do  that  ? 
She  stood  in  the  cold  gray  window,  the  snow  falling  he- 
hind  her.  This  was  the  fairest  and  noblest  woman  he 
had  ever  looked  upon  !  He  knew  that  now,  when  there 
was  danger  of  losing  her.  He  would  not  lose  her,  of 
course.  Why,  what  would  he  do  without  Isabel — without 
Isabel  ?  The  very  idea  staggered  him  with  an  unreal  ab- , 
surdity,  as  if  somebody  had  said  that  he  must  henceforth 
live  out-of-doors,  with  no  roof  over  his  head,  or  that 
there  was  to  be  no  air  to  breathe. 

"  I  can  understand  that  you  have  cause  to  be  hurt  with 
me " 

She  turned  to  him  with  a  tired  sigh. 

"Don't  let  us  say  anything  more.  I  am  not  hurt.  I 
was  only  mistaken." 

"In  me,  Isabel?" 

"Yes.  I  thought  I  knew  you,  and — I  loved  you  very 
much,  Clay.  No,  do  not  touch  me,"  quietly.  f '  That  is 
all  over.  You  allowed  a  woman  whom  I — I  do  not 
respect,  to  cajole  you  into  the  belief  that  you  loved  her, 
and  for  that  love  you  left  me  on  our  wedding-day  to 
obey  her  whims,  feeling  that  you  played  the  part  of  a 
hero  when  you  came  back  to  me  to  keep  the  letter  of 
your  promise.  You  would  have  given  me  your  name, 
when  you  had  given  her  all  beside." 

"  As  God  hears  me,  Isabel,  it  is  you  that  I  love,"  pro 
tested  Braddock.  "I  confess  that  I  admired  poor  Anna 
— her  beauty  and  gentle  ways — I  felt  tenderly " 

"The  man  /marry,"  said  Isabel,  fixing  her  slow-mov 
ing  eyes,  which  at  the  moment  had  certainly  a  very  ox- 
like  persistence  and  obstinacy  in  them,  "must  give  me 
all  the  tenderness  he  has  to  spare.  There  is  no  use  of 
any  farther  discussion  between  us,"  changing  her  tone. 
"  I  will  never  marry  a  man  whom  I  know  as  little  as  I 
do  you." 

"  You  mean  to  throw  me  off  as  you  would  a  garment 


A^DROSS.  247 

you  were  tired  of  !  "  cried  Braddock,  in  as  bitter  a  rage  of 
disappointment,  as  though  he  had  been  a  martyr  of  con 
stancy.  "You  mean  that  there  is  to  be  an  end  to  all 
between  us  ?  Do  you  remember  your  letters,  Isabel  ?  Do 
you  remember  the  day  I  told  you  I  loved  you,  and  asked 
you  to  marry  me — by  the  mill-race — down  there  at  Lost 
Creek  ?  You've  forgotten  that  ?  And  now  you  throw 
me  off?" 

She  threw  up  both  hands  to  her  face,  and  cried  pas 
sionately  for  a  minute,  but  spoke  presently  as  steadily  as 
before. 

"You  do  not  understand.  I  was  deceived  in  you. 
Some  women  would  marry  you,  feeling  as  I  do  to  you, 
and  could  live  with  you  perhaps  comfortably.  But  you 
are  not  the  man  I  loved.  I  shall  not  find  him  again." 

"  I  have  no  wish  to  marry  you  without  your  love."  He 
stepped  back  from  her.  "You  will  live  certainly  rnorb 
comfortably  and  luxuriously  in  your  father's  house  than  in 
mine.  I  am  a  poor  man,  and  likely  to  remain  so ;  I  had 
nothing  but  you,  and  that  I  have  lost." 

"It  has  been  my  fault,  perhaps,"  after  a  pause.  "I 
should  have  known  you  better  before  I  allowed  myself  to 
love  you.  As  for  money,"  quietly,  "I  have  not  been 
used  to  value  it  very  much." 

Something  in  these  words  stung  him  as  nothing  else 
had  done  into  certainty  that  she  had  put  him  from  her 
irrevocably.  It  was  not  her  own  abandonment  or  the 
love  she  had  given  him,  and  which  he  had  trifled  with, 
that  she  mourned  for  with  that  white  face  and  monot 
onous,  weary  voice.  It  was  he,  Clay  Braddock,  tho 
meaner,  weaker  man  than  the  one  she  had  loved.  Was 
she  right  ?  Had  he  been  simply  dishonourable  and  sen 
sual  when  he  thought  himself  a  Christian  hero  ?  Had 
the  tempter  come  to  him  as  to  poor  Andross,  and  his.fall 
been  more  sudden  and  deep,  because  he  stood  secure  on 
his  own  vain-glory  and  confidence  ?  Even  in  that  su- 


248  JOHN   AKDROSS. 

preme  moment  of  pain  and  loss,  loss  even  of  himself, 
came  a  wonder  why  the  deuce  old  Macintosh  preached 
against  the  dead  Satans  of  doctrines,  when  here  were  liv 
ing  devils  in  the  shape  of  friends  and  a  woman  to  drag  a 
man  down,  and  make  him  vile  and  wretched  in  this 
world,  at  least. 

;But  this  was  folly.  Anna  was  no  devil,  and  he,  Brad- 
dock,  was  a  consistent,  humble-minded  church-member, 
who  neither  swore  nor  drank,  nor  even  smoked.  No  man 
had  ^  cleaner  record.  And  if  Isabel,  out  of  sheer  stub 
bornness,  refused  to  make  any  allowances  for  margins  in 
a  man's  nature,  larger  than  her  own,  and  to  cast  him  off 
at  the  very  moment  when  he  was  most  faithfully  doing 
his  duty  to  her — let  it  be  so  !  There  were  other  women 
who  took  him  on  trust — women  incapable  of  criticising 
and  carping  over  his  character.  At  the  remembrance  of 
Anna,  the  sudden  sensuous  emotion  crept  over  his  mind, 
as  an  August  wind  or  heavy  perfume  might  over  the 
body. 

He  stood  irresolute  a  moment,  his  elbow  on  the  mantel 
shelf.  It  brushed  against  an  old  silver  candlestick  with 
crooked  leaved  branches,  which  Bell  had  always  set  in 
the  window  at  night  to  light  him  over  the  ford.  It  was 
an  idle  trifle  to  remember ;  how,  as  Tom's  feet  plashed  in 
the  brawling  water,  he  always  looked  for  the  three  lights 
in  a  certain  sash,  and  the  glitter  of  the  -leafy  silver  below, 
and  knew  that  Bell  with  her  work-table  was  waiting  by 
the  fire,  with  the  great  bear-skin  stretched  in  front  of  it. 
He  looked  slowly  now  at  the  fire  and  the  shaggy  old  skin 
at  his  feet  and  the  work-basket  he  had  given  her,  and 
then  at  Bell,  waiting — to  drive  him  out ! 

Then  without  a  word  he  went  to  the  table  and  took  up 
his  hat  and  gloves,  opening  them  methodically. 

" I  think  you  are  right,"  he  said.  "I  have  no  claim 
to  stay  here  longer."  He  did  not  go,  but  waited  for  her 
to  answer. 


JOHN  AKDROSS.  249 

"No  ;  you  have  no  claim,"  said  Miss  Latimer. 

"Then  good-bye,  Isabel." 

Was  she  a  log  or  stone?  Was  it  possible  that  she 
would  let  him  go  ?  Without  a  word  ? 

If  she  had  been  a  man,  when  she  said  all  was  over,  she 
would  have  held  to  that  resolve  ten  minutes  at  least ;  but 
it  never  was  a  woman  who  cried, 

"  Hin  ist  bin, 
Verloren  ist  verloren." 

unless  she  thought  the  cry  would  bring  her  lover  "(pack  for 
a  few  more  last  words. 

Instead  of  a  quiet  good-bye,  Isabel  came  up  to  him,  her 
honest  face  ablaze. 

"I  have  but  one  request  to  make  of  you,  Dr.  Brad- 
dock,  at  parting,  that  you  go  straight  from  me  to  the 
woman  who  has  taken  you  from  me." 

"  Anna  will  give  me  a  kind  welcome,  I  am  sure,"  com 
posedly. 

The  angry  red  died  out  of  her  face  suddenly.  "Yes, 
go  to  her.  I  wish  you  to  see  the  full  value  of  the  goods, 
for  which  you  have  sold  your  life  and " 

"And  yours,  Bell?  Does  it  cost  you  something  then 
to  give  me  up  ?"  trying  to  take  her  hand.  "  If  I  thought 

you  suffered  at  all But  you  are  made  of  iron,"  angrily 

pushing  away  the  cold,  nerveless  hand. 

" I  have  not  spoken  of  myself,"  quietly.  "It  is  all 
said  between  us,  I  think,"  ringing  the  bell.  "  Otho,  Dr. 
Braddock  waits  for  you." 

Braddock  stood  feebly  a  minute  looking  at  the  old 
black  man's  averted,  pitying  face,  and  the  tall,  stately 
,  figure  by  the  window.  He  had  a  fierce  mind  to  rush  to 
her,  to  drag  back  by  some  means  the  love  lie  had  lost — 

to  show  her What  ?  How  mad  and  weak  he  was  ? 

She  knew  that  already. 

"  I  am  ready,"  he  said,  nodding  to  Oth,  and  followed 
him  down-stairs. 


250  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

He  stopped  on  the  door-step,  the  driving  snow  wetting 
his  pinched  face  and  blue  lips.  The  door  closed  behind 
him. 

"  I'll  go  to  Anna,  as  she  bids  me  !"  he  said.  "  She,  at 
least,  loves  me,  poor  child." 


CHAPTEE    XXVIII. 

A  S  the  hall  door  shut  behind  Braddock,  Mr.  Bowyer, 
**  in  the  study,  rose  from  his  chair  after  a  long  col 
loquy  with  his  chief.  The  colonel,  pencil  in  hand,  was 
in  deep  reflection  over  some  papers,  and  Bowyer  had 
leisure  to  look  around  him,  and  wonder  whether  it  was 
the  pipes  and  tobacco  pouches  hung  on  one  side  of  the 
wall,  or  the  guns  and  swords  and  big  ears  of  corn  from 
Nittany  on  the  other,  or  the  boxes  of  tools  and  models 
heaped  pell-mell  in  the  middle,  that  entitled  the  room  to 
the  name  of  study. 

"About  as  fit  for  a  study  as  Old  Tom  is  for  a  col 
lector,"  thought  the  detective,  standing  on  one  leg, 
which  was  cramped.  His  deputies  already  had  dubbed 
the  colonel  "Old  Tom,"  just  as  his  regiment  had  done. 
He  was  going  over  some  accounts  slowly,  running  his 
finger  up  the  page,  his  forehead  knit  sternly. 

"  I  never  could  make  a  column  tot  up  the  same  amount 
twice  over,"  looking  up  anxiously.  "Neither  can  Miss 
Latimer,  or  she  would  help  me.  It's  very  annoying.  I'm 
afraid  that  Joseph  sometimes  is  not  accurate." 

"  But  about  these  distillers,  Colonel  ?  I  had,  as  I  told 
you  yesterday,  certain  information  that  Laird  directed 
the  full  tax  to  be  paid  on  each  barrel.  But  it  has  not 
been  done  for  a  single  day.  The  working  distillers  are 
small  owners  of  stock,  it  appears,  and  have  taken  the 
matter  out  of  the  hands  of  the  capitalists." 


JOHK   ANDROSS.  251 

"  I  told  you  Houston  Laird  was  an  honourable  man," 
glancing  down  again  at  the  unruly  figures. 

"'So  are  they  all — all  honourable  men!'"  muttered 
Bowyer,  who  had  been  drilling  his  boy  as  Marc  Antony 
lately  for  a  school  exhibition,  and  who  had  his  head 
fuller  of  strategems  and  assassinations  and  fiery  eloquence 
than  was  Sam's.  "Well,  sir,  what  am  I  to  do?  Put 
the  screws  on  at  once,  as  you  directed  ?  " 

"Now,  Bowyer — eighty-nine,  just  remember  eighty- 
nine,  if  you  please,"  holding  his  forefinger  on  the  spot. 
"  Now,  I  would  not  be  too  hasty.  You're  sure  they  have 
not  paid  the  tax  since  they  received  orders  from  Laird  ?  " 

"Not  a  dollar,  sir.  Wilkins,  in  fact,  has  said  openly 
that  if  Laird  interferes  further  he  will  throw  up  the 
management.  They  could  not  spare  Wilkins,  so  Laird 
will  not  interfere. " 

"  I  think  you're  mistaken  there.  You'll  find  Laird  is 
a  man  who  will  rule  his  own  household,  even  if  it  is  made 
up  of  distillers.  Wait  until  to-morrow  before  you  use 
stringent  measures.  I'll  find  Laird  to-day,  if  he  is  in 
town,  and  if  not,  telegraph  him.  He'll  set  it  all  right. 
Eighty-nine  and  eight " 

Bowyer  regarded  the  colonel  attentively  a  minute. 

"Wilkins,"  he  said,  "has  boasted  openly,  too,  that  he 
can  carry  on  the  business  just  as  he  has  done  it  in  de 
fiance  of  you  or  any  force  which  you  can  bring  with  you." 

"He— what?"  cried  the  colonel.  "Why,  do  you 
know,  sir,  that  I  could  arrest  that  miserable  scoundrel 
and  put  him  to  trial,  sir  ?  Try  him  like  any  common 
thief !  The  proofs  so  plain  that  there's  not  a  judge  nor 
jury  in  the  land  that  would  dare  not  to  convict  him,  if 
I  once  order  his  arrest." 

"  I  don't  know  that.  Wilkins  is  an  influential  man  in 
his  ward,  and  judges  and  jurors  would  want  to  know 
what  the  Ring  had  to  say  before  they  move  in  the  matter. 
They  always  do." 


252  JOHH   ANDROSS. 

"  Confound  the  King !  What  else  does  the  fellow  say  ? 
It's  really  amusing  to  me  !  JSTow,  I  want  you  to  keep 
cool,  Bowyer.  You're  too  hasty.  I'll  manage  this  affair 
myself.  He'll  sell  his  infernal  whiskey  under  my  nose, 
in  spite  of  me  !  Why,  it's — it's  insubordination,  sir ! " 

"They've  had  a  gang  of  roughs  from  the  fourth  ward 
on  the  premises  every  night  for  a  week  in  case  of  a 
seizure." 

"They  have,  have  they?"  shutting  the  ledger,  and 
pushing  it  hack  until  he  upset  the  ink-bottle. 

"Armed,  I  suppose?" 

"Oh  !  armed,  of  course  !" 

"Ton  my  soul,  this  looks  like  business,"  laughing, 
with  a  red  spot  burning  on  each  cheek  bone.  "  Go  down 
at  once,  Bowyer,  and  levy  the  tax  due  on  every  gallon  in 
the  warehouses.  Give  them  until  five  o'clock  this  after 
noon  to  pay  it.  If  it  is  not  counted  down  then,  to  the 
last  dollar,  I'll  collect  it  in  person." 

"  You'll  consult  Mr.  Laird  in  the  meantime  ?" 

"  I'll  do  no  such  thing.  Do  you  suppose  I'm  going  to 
manoeuvre  and  honeyfugle  a  lot  of  thieves  to  get  the  just 
dues  for  the  government  ?  " 

"Very  well,  sir,"  gathering  up  his  papers.  "If  the 
money  is  not  paid  by  five  o'clock,  I'll  have  the  gaugers 
in  force  at  the  Sixth  street  Station  ?  " 

The  colonel's  countenance  fell. 

"  Gaugers  ?  I Do  you  mean  to  say  we  must  call 

in  those  fellows?" 

"Why,  we  could  hardly  attack  the  distilleries  single- 
handed,  Colonel,"  keeping  his  face  grave  with  an  effort. 
"  And  you  can't  call  out  the  military  on  such  an  occa 
sion.  " 

"More's  the  pity.  Even,  the  volunteers Why, 

when  Baltimore  was  under  martial  law,  Bowyer,  with 
the  guns  of  Fort  McHenry  turned  on  her,  there  never 
was  such  order  known  there.  It  was  peace,  sir,  peace ; 


JOHN   ANDROSS.  253 

a  perfect  dream  of  Arcadia.  But  for  an  old  West  Pointer 
to  go  into  a  fight  with  a  troop  of  revenue  men  at  his 
back — making  it  a  legal  affair — it's  like  taking  a  mean 
advantage  of  Wilkins.  I  don't  relish  it  at  all ! "  in  a 
tone  of  chagrin  and  vexation. 

"Well,  sir,  it  is  a  legal  matter,  and  yon  are  an  officer 
of  the  law.  So  it  seems  appropriate,  somehow,  to  say  the 
least." 

"Oh,  of  course.  The  law.  Now  do  you  know, 
Bowyer,"  lowering  his  voice,  "  I  have  very  serious  doubts 
whether  the  law  ought  to  be  the  highest  authority,  eh  ? 
There's  a  deal  of  red-tape  injustice  in  the  law,  I  can  tell 
you,  sir ;  and  the  judges,  as  you  acknowledge,  are  some 
times  tools  of  the  King;  and  what  are  the  juries?  A 
dozen  dunderheads  picked  by  chance  because  they  know 
nothing  of  the  matter  in  hand.  Down  in  the  army,  in 
the  days  when  the  duel  was  permissible,  the  code  of  man 
ners  and  morals  was  fixed  by  gentlemen — educated  men 
of  honour.  Look  even  at  your  Lynch  law ;  it's  a  rough 
justice,  but  it's  not  for  sale.  I  don't  mean  to  say  that  I 

want  Lynch  law  in  its  extent What  the  deuce  is  the 

matter  with  your  leg,  sir  ?  " 

Bowyer  emerged  from  behind  the  table  with  a  red  face 
and  twinkling  eyes.  "  Nothing  but  cramp — asleep.  I'll 
run  over  that  account,  if  you  choose,  Colonel,  and  see  if 
Joseph  is  correct.  I  used  to  teach  school,  and  got  the 
knack  of  figures." 

"All  right.  I  never  did.  I  wish  you  would."  The 
colonel  had  suddenly  grown  grave  and  anxious.  He  had 
just  recognized  Braddock  as  he  passed  the  window.  "  I 
must  go  now,  Bowyer.  Let  me  hear  from  you  at  five, 
sharp." 

The  detective  seated  himself  at  the  blotted  ledger,  and 
Colonel  Latimer  hurried  across  the  hall  to  the  library, 
and  pushed  open  the  door.  He  fancied  Bell  was  lying 
back  motionless  in  her  chair  at  first,  but  when  he  came 


254  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

up  to  her  she  was  sewing  industriously,  her  cheeks  red, 
and  eyes  bright  and  cheerful. 

"  He  has  been  here.,  Isabel  ?" 

"Oh!  yes,  papa,"  rising  hastily.  "It's  all  right. 
I've  postponed  the  wedding — no,  that  is  a  He.  I  have 
given  him  up  altogether.  But  it's  all  right.  I'm  quite 
happy.  Don't  fret  about  me,  papa.  We  won't  worry 
about  it.  Nor  talk  of  it  any  more,  will  we  ?"  breathlessly. 

"  Not  if  you  do  not  wish  it,  my  darling.  Did But 

I  will  not  ask  any  questions,"  checking  himself.  He 
stooped  and  kissed  her  softly  again  and  again  on  her 
forehead,  her  hair,  her  closed  eyes.  She  let  her  head  rest 
on  his  breast  awhile  and  then  looked  up,  smiling  again 
persistently. 

"Why,  what  has  happened  ?  I  have  not  seen  you  look 
in  that  way  since  you  used  to  try  a  new  casting  at  the 
Works,  or  when  you  were  going  into  battle." 

"Nothing,  my  dear,  nothing  you  could  understand. 
Business,  business.  Shall  I  drive  you  out,  Bell?  Is 
there  anywhere  you  would  like  to  go  ?" 

"To  go?"  with  a  dreary  glance  out  of  the  window. 
"Nowhere,  papa." 

"Anybody  you  want  to  see  then,  darling?"  anxiously. 
"I'll  take  you  to  any  of  your  friends  in  town." 

"  No ;  there  is  nobody,"  the  lids  falling  dully  over  her 
heavy  eyes.  "  I  don't  want  any  friends  but  you,"  hold 
ing  up  her  mouth  to  be  kissed.  "Now  go,  and  let  me 
finish  my  sewing,  dear ;  I'm  very  busy.  When  you  come 
back  to  dinner  we'll  be  as  happy  as  if  there  were  no — no 
business  in  the  world." 

"  I  hope  so,  Isabel,"  said  the  colonel  gravely.  "  I  trust 
in  God  so,  my  poor  baby!"  He  kissed  her  once  more, 
and  putting  on  his  hat  hurried  out  of  the  house.  If  the 
child's  mother  had  only  lived  !  He  was  hard  and  coarse 
— he  could  not  come  near  enough  to  her,  even  to  show 
how  he  loved  her. 


JOHN  ANDROSS.  255 

As  soon  as  Bowyer  saw  the  colonel  go  stalking  past  the 
window,  he  jumped  up,  seized  his  hat  and  crossed  to  the 
library,  tapping  at  the  door,  and  then  pushing  it  hastily 
open. 

"  It  is  only  I,  Miss  Latimer,"  not  noticing  in  his  haste 
a  certain  confused  and  dazed  look  of  the  young  girl  as 
she  rose. 

"Good  morning,  Mr.  Bowyer.  Colonel  Latimer  has 
just  gone  out,  this  moment." 

"It  wasn't  the  colonel  I  came  to  see,  ma'am.  It  was 
you.  Yes,  I'll  take  a  chair,  thank  you,  though  I'll 
hardly  warm  it.  I'm  a  good  deal  pushed  for  time  to-day, 
and  I've  idled  away  a  half -hour  in  the  chance  of  seeing 
you.  You're  attending,  Miss  Latimer?" 

"Certainly." 

At  this  moment,  there  rushed  upon  Bowyer's  remem 
brance  the  fact  that  this  young  lady  was  to  have  been 
married  yesterday,  and  that  evidently  no  such  marriage 
had  taken  place.  He  was  silent  a  full  minute,  and  then 
proceeded  quickly.  There  had  been  a  hitch  somewhere, 
he  thought,  it  was  none  of  his  business  where.  The 
wholesomest  thing  for  the  young  woman  was  to  give  her 
something  else  to  think  of. 

"Now,  I'm  not  like  the  colonel,"  he  said  aloud.  "He 
says  keep  women  and  business  apart.  But  I  say  find  the 
right  cog  for  the  wheel,  and  put  it  in — male  or  female. 
Now  that  case  of  Julius  Caesar's — if  he'd  taken  heed  to 
Calphurny,  it  would  have  ended  differently  all  round, 
especially  for  him." 

"Caesar?  Calphurnia?  I'm  afraid  I  don't  follow 
you,"  said  Isabel  anxiously. 

"  Oh !  never  mind.  It  was  just  an  illustration  of 
mine — on  account  of  teaching  it  to  our  Sam,  and  it  really 
is  a  case  in  point,  if  you  know  all  the  items.  Now,  here's 
the  items,  Miss  Latimer,"  his  voice  changing  from  its 
embarrassed  vacuous  hesitation  to  sharp  decision.  "  I'm 


256  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

going  to  trust  you,  because  you  don't  talk.  I  saw  that, 
and  you  struck  me  as  a  solid,  sensible  woman  the  first 
day  I  came  here,  and  because  your  father's  not  to  be 
trusted  in  this  matter  at  all." 

"What  do  you  mean?" 

"  He's  too  headlong.  To  warn  him  of  danger  would  be 
like  holding  a  peck  of  oats  before  a  mule's  nose.  He'd 
walk  into  it,  like  Caesar  into  the  senate-house.  I'll  trust 
this  Calphurny  to  manage  better,"  nodding  affably. 

"  Is  my  father  in  danger  ?"  Being  a  soldier's  daughter, 
used  to  danger  and  to  seeing  it  warded  off,  she  asked  the 
question  with  a  composure  at  which  Bowyer  was  ready  to 
applaud. 

"  I  knew  I  was  not  mistaken  in  you,  ma'am.  Yes,  he 
is.  There's  been  some  difficulty  with  whiskey  distillers  : 
collecting  the  taxes — you  wouldn't  understand." 

"  No.     Don't  stop  to  explain." 

"  The  gist  of  the  thing  is,  your  father's  too  honest  a 
man  for  the  place,  and  interferes  with  their  profits,  and 
they  want  him  out  of  it.  The  party  that  put  him  in  are 
afraid  to  remove  him — it  looks  too  badly — see  ?  So  there 
he  is,  a  fixture.  He  (and  me)  we've  been  running  a  gang 
of  distillers  pretty  hard,  this  last  week  or  two,  and  they've 
taken  means  of  getting  us  laid  on  the  shelf.  I  can  take 
care  of  myself.  But  the  colonel — he  won't,  and  that's  the 
truth  of  it.  I  haven't  thought  best  to  mention  it  to  him. " 

"You  don't  mean  that  they  would  assassinate  my 
father?" 

"  I  mean  just  that ;  perhaps  not  kill  outright :  shoot 
or  stab.  Pistols  are  handier  than  daggers  nowadays,  and 
a  job  of  the  sort  don't  need  as  many  slashes  as  Brutus's 
gang  had  to  make.  Especially  air-pistols." 

"Mr.  Bowyer,"  said  Bell  smiling,  "you've  been  read 
ing  of  Brutus  and  the  rest  until  you  are  unnecessarily 
alarmed  on  the  subject  of  assassination.  Such  things  are 
not  done  nowadays.  This  is  not  Rome." 


JOHK  ANDROSS.  257 

"Who  shot  John  Ford,  Miss  Latimer?" 

"I — I'm  sure  I  do  not  know.  I  did  hear  something 
about  a  man  of  that  name." 

"I'll  tell  you.  He  was  a  special,  like  me.  He  was 
shot  down  in  daylight,  two  months  ago,  and  the  Ring 
had  so  bought  and  paid  for  judge,  jury,  and  press,  that 
though  everybody  knew  the  men  who  had  hired  the  assas 
sins,  they  could  not  be  touched ;  only  their  tools  were 
punished." 

"And  you  mean  that  my  father  has  provoked  these 
men?" 

"Yes.  I  know  they've  threatened  us  both,  and  that 
I've  been  dogged  night  and  day  for  a  week.  But  I  go 
pretty  well  protected  by  daylight,"  touching  his  breast 
pocket,  "and  they  know  it.  And  at  night  I've  just  had 
to  keep  in-doors.  It's  cowardly.  But  it'll  only  last  a  few 
days.  Before  another  Wednesday  there'll  be  an  end  of 
Wilkins's  trade  or  mine." 

"  There  was  a  man  named  Voss?"  remembering  their 
encounter  two  days  before. 

" One  of  their  ' men,'"  said  Bowyer,  "out  of  the  Peni 
tentiary  a  year  ago.  You've  got  your  finger  on  the  right 
spot."  But  he  asked  no  explanation,  and  she  volunteered 
none. 

"You  could  never  persuade  my  father  to  remain  in 
doors."  Isabel  sat  erect,  intent  now  on  every  word  of 
Bowyer's.  He  saw  that  she  had  forgotten  all  else. 

"  Of  course  not.  I  know  the  colonel.  If  I'd  hint  this 
to  him  he'd  march  the  streets,  like  a  war-horse  smelling 
the  battle.  That's  why  I  come  to  you ;  far  you  to  take 
care  of  him." 

"  I  understand." 

Bowyer  scanned  the  young  girl's  grave,  steady  face  for 
a  minute,  as  a  mechanic  would  a  tool  he  was  about  to 
use,  and  then  continued :  "I  can  depend  on  you,  Miss 
Latimer,  not  to  mention  to  the  colonel  one  word  I  have 


258  JOHtf   ANDROSS. 

said  to  you.  I  wish  you  to  detain  him  with  you  in-doors, 
as  far  as  that  is  practicable,  unless  when  he  is  out  with 
me  on  business.  This  difficulty  will  only  last  for  a  day 
or  two,  while  Wilkins  and  I  and  the  law  are  settling 
which  is  to  rule." 

"  If  my  father  and  you  gain  your  point,"  Bell  said  in 
her  slow,  meditative  way,  "  there  will  be  more  danger  for 
him.  They  will  want  to  be  revenged  on  him.  I  think 
he  and  I  had  better  go  back  to  Mttany. " 

''No.  These  men  of  the  Ring  and  their  tools  don't 
care  to  put  a  man  out  of  the  way  unless  it  pays.  A  mur 
der  for  revenge,  now,  there' d  be  something  respectable  in 
that.  These  fellows  only  work  for  hire.  You  needn't 
trouble  yourself  about  the  colonel,  ma'am,  after  I  tell  you 
he's  safe." 

"  I  think  we  had  better  go  back  to  JSTittany." 

' '  There's  a  good  proportion  of  the  mule  in  the  Latimer 
family,"  thought  Bowyer,  but  he  rose  and  bowed  respect 
fully.  "I've  got  to  go  now,  ma'am,"  setting  his  chair 
back  carefully  against  the  wall.  "  Don't  be  over-uneasy, 
so's  to  get  your  nerves  unhinged." 

"I  have  no  nerves,  Mr.  Bowyer,"  smiling. 

"  Glad  to  hear  it,  ma'am.  And  on  the  other  hand, 
when  you  think  the  matter  over,  don't  pooh-pooh  the 
whole  thing,  as  your  father  would  do.  I'm  not  an  alarm 
ist." 

"I  do  not  underrate  the  danger."  She  had  risen,  and 
was  leaning  on  the  back  of  the  chair.  ' '  My  father  is  out 

now.  If  I  go  after  him But  there  he  is,"  as  the 

colonel's  shadow  passed  the  window. 

"Yes,  and  I  must  be  off  the  other  way.  Take  notice 
of  all  messages  he  gets,  ma'am.  We  don't  live  in  Eome, 
as  you  said.  But  a  man  dies  as  quick  from  a  bullet  fired 
by  Eafferty,  or  any  of  the  other  bullies  of  the  Fourth 
ward,  as  if  it  was  a  '  rent  the  envious  Casca  made ! ' " 
Bowyer  bowed  again,  and  went  out,  feeling  that  he  had 


JOHN  AKDROSS.  259 

turned  the  last  sentence  neatly,  with  that  scrap.  A  little 
book-learning  was  a  very  convenient  thing ;  he  was  glad 
Sam  was  to  have  the  advantages  he  had  missed.  That 
girl  of  the  colonel's  was  good  grit,  yet  she  had  broken 
terribly  in  the  last  day  or  two ;  the  detective's  eye  seeing 
what  her  father's  had  failed  to  mark. 


CHAPTER    XXIX. 

rpHE  opponents  of  the  Transit  bill  managed,  as  Wil- 
-*-  litts  had  foreseen,  to  talk  it  down  that  night,  and 
showed  such  skill  in  maneuvering,  and  such  strength  of 
resources  in  exposing  the  open  bidding  for  votes,  that  the 
embryo  statesman  was  alarmed,  and  by  daybreak  the  next 
morning  hurried  down  to  the  depot  to  telegraph  to  Mr. 
Laird  to  come  on  without  delay. 

"I  feel  there's  a  collision  of  the  worst  sort  inevitable," 
he  said  to  McElroy,  "  and  let  him  be  here  to  engineer  it 
himself.  I've  been  acting  partly  on  my  own  responsibilty, 
and  if  matters  go  wrong  he'll  call  it  meddling." 

"Hardly  so  bad  as  that,  !S~ed."  McElroy  was  very  cool 
about  it,  having  his  greenbacks  safe  in  his  pocket ;  he 
had  leisure,  therefore,  to  wonder  why  Laird  trusted  so 
much  to  such  a  leaky  fellow  as  Willitts,  any  how  ?  Hav 
ing  nothing  better  to  do,  he  lounged  beside  Ned  on  to  the 
depot,  and  paced  up  and  down  that  ill-smelling  place  of 
resort,  kicking  the  pea-nut  shells  and  orange-peels  from 
the  platform  while  Willitts  ran  up  to  the  office.  A  crowd 
of  men  with  pick-axes  and  tin-cans  were  waiting  on  one 
side ;  a  crowd  of  women  with  the  inevitable  dirty-faced, 
plumed  babies,  and  little  boys  in  tawdry  knickerbockers 
on  the  other ;  a  mulatto  girl  with  gilt  ear-rings  and  pink 
bonnet  flaunted  up  and  down,  all  of  whom  McElroy  eyed  as 
though  he  saw  them  not ;  but  he  suddenly  stopped,  look- 


260  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

ing  closely  at  a  stout,  short,  red-bearded  man  in  a  shaggy 
overcoat  and  travelling  cap,  who  stood  amongst  the  work 
men,  and  about  whom  they  had  gathered  with  eager  de 
ference. 

McElroy  ran  up  the  office-steps  breathlessly,  and  hailed 
Willitts.  "Here's  your  chief,  Ned,  Laird.  He  must 
have  come  up  on  the  eastern  Express.  What  can  he  want 
with  those  men  ?  You  don't  think  he'll  go  back  on  your 
arrangements,  do  you  ?  " 

"Your  champagne  is  safe,  Mac.  I  see  him.  Yes, 
that's  Laird,"  coolly,  nodding  his  companion  out  of  his 
way. 

"You'll  introduce  me  ?"  anxiously. 

"Another  time,  Mac,  if  you  please.     Business  now." 

Willitts  was  as  much  astonished  at  Laird's  appearance 
as  McElroy,  and  as  curious  about  his  business  with  the 
labourers ;  but  he  picked  his  steps  over  the  platform  and 
stood  swinging  his  cane,  waiting  for  him  nonchalantly, 
as  though  it  were  a  ball-room  and  they  were  both  invited 
guests.  Mr.  Laird  touched  his  hat  to  him,  but  finished 
his  colloquy. 

"You'll  go  back  to  your  boarding-house  then,  Mr. 
McGuire,"  he  said  to  the  foremost  of  them,  "and  desire 
Mr.  Smalley  to  come  to  the  Lochiel  House  immediately, 

and  ask  to  be  shown  to .  What  is  the  number  of  your 

room,  Mr.  Willitts?" 

"Eighteen — first  floor.     Better  write  it  down." 

"  You  hear  ?  No,"  putting  back  Willitts's  card,  on 
which  he  had  scribbled  the  number.  "  You  will  remem 
ber  it,  sir  ?  You  will  miss  the  train — lose  the  day's  work, 
I  suppose.  When  you  bring  Smalley,  I  will  pay  you  double 
for  the  loss  of  your  wages.  Go  at  once,  if  you  please." 

"  You  manage  that  sort  of  people  better  than  I.  I  am 
too  familiar  with  them,"  remarked  Willitts,  as  they 
turned  up  the  street.  But  Laird  only  nodded.  There 
was  something  gloomy  and  oppressive  in  the  silence, 


JOHN   AJsDIlOSS.  261 

which  annoyed  Willitts.  "  May  I  ask,"  he  said  after  a 
pause,  "who  is  Smalley  ?" 

"Voss." 

Ned  gave  a  silent  whistle  of  dismay  and  glance  of  alarm 
at  his  companion.  ( l  You  find  it  necessary  to  call  him  in  ?  " 

"  Yes.  He  fights  shy  of  Wilkins,  it  appears.  I  ascer 
tained  that  he  came  here,  found  out  his  last  alias  yester 
day,  and  by  luck  stumbled  on  these  men,  who  knew  him, 
just  as  I  left  the  train." 

"  I  thought "  Willitts  hesitated.  He  approached 

the  chief  with  cautious  touches,  just  as  the  jackal  would 
the  lion,  finding  him  in  ill-humour.  "  I  thought  Wilkins 
would  be  able  to  attend  to  this  matter  ?  " 

"Wilkins?"  Mr.  Laird  never  swore,  but  he  had  a 
habit,  when  under  great  excitement,  of  closing  his  lips, 
more  emphatic  than  any  oath.  "  Wilkins  has  broken  the 
traces  completely." 

"Yes.     He  refused  to  pay  the  tax  as  you  directed." 

"You  should  have  notified  me  of  that,"  quietly. 

"I  came  on  to  attend  to  what  I  considered  more  im 
portant  business  here,"  said  Willitts.  "  I  did  not  really 
suppose,"  deprecatingly,  ".that  the  losses  in  the  distil 
leries  could  seriously  affect  your  business." 

"It  is  not  the  loss  in,  but  the  loss  of  the  distilleries. 
That  fellow  Bowyer  has  determined  to  expose  the  whole 
scheme,  and  ruin  it.  You  know  how  extended  it  is,  and 
that  it  has  no  foundation  but  secrecy.  It  is  toppling  to 
destruction  to-day.  Payment  or  non-payment  of  taxes 
is  a  trifle — it  is  the  exposure  that  is  fatal." 

"Andross,"  cautiously,  "before  he  gave  in,  spoke  to 
me  of  the  National  Transit  Company  as  bankrupt  for 
months." 

"He  was  quite  right,  as  you  know,"  meaningly.  "If 
this  bill  is  choked  off,  and  the  distillery  revenue  stopped 
• — the  bubble  is  burst." 

Ned  gnawed  the  end  of  his  rattan,  and  wet  his  dry  lips. 


262  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

It  was  very  well  for  Laird,  who  had  made  enormous  fail 
ures  once  or  twice  before  (paying  twenty  cents  on  the 
dollar),  to  the  great  improvement  of  his  fortune,  to  be 
calm  about  the  matter.  But  this  gigantic  sham  had 
given  to  him  and  dozens  of  other  young  fellows,  its  archi 
tects,  not  only  food  and  clothes,  but  all  the  luxury  of  the 
town.  He  glanced  down  at  the  Paris  made  trousers  on 
his  little  legs,  the  blazing  solitaire  on  his  white  hand. 
He  had  no  trade  nor  profession.  And  there  was  his 
mother  and  sisters  to  think  of — Gertrude  unmarried  yet. 

"What  is  to  become  of  me  when  it  bursts?  I  know 
nothing  outside  of  it,"  with  a  laugh,  dreary  and  pathetic 
enough,  had  there  been  any  one  to  take  in  its  full  signifi 
cance. 

" '  Go  "West,  young  man !'  as  Greeley  would  tell  you/' 
with  a  sardonic  laugh.  "Dig,  plow,  eat  bacon.  How 
long  is  it  since  Andross  promised  us  his  vote  ? "  abruptly 
changing  his  tone. 

"Last  night." 

"  He  has  changed  his  mind  by  this  time,  then — once 
or  twice.  I'll  nail  him  this  time.  There's  no  room  for 
risk  now." 

They  walked  on  in  silence  until  they  had  reached  the 
pavement  in  front  of  the  hotel. 

(l  You  will  see  Voss  in  my  room  when  he  comes,  sir. 
Do  you  wish  him  brought  up  with  any  regard  to  secrecy?" 
asked  Willitts. 

"  None  whatever.  Wliy  ?  The  fellow  knows  his  busi 
ness.  He'll  not  be  caught ;  and  if  he  is .  It  is  Mr. 

Voss  who  will  suffer,  most  probably.     Nobody  else." 

Ned  laughed.  He  was  more  reckless  about  offending 
Laird  than  he  had  ever  shown  himself  before. 

"  Even  in  Italy,  which  is  the  land  of  banditti,  there  is 
some  show  of  secrecy  about  hiring  assassins,"  he  said. 
"  But  you  are  right.  Even  the  press  will  help  hush  the 
matter  up,  when  Bowyer  disappears." 


JOHK   ANDROSS.  263 

"  Bowyer  is  not  going  to  disappear.  Voss  may  prob 
ably  give  him  a  drubbing  or  broken  head,  to  teach  him 
to  attend  to  his  own  affairs.  Brute  force  is  the  only 
means  to  use  with  such  fellows." 

Mr.  Laird  spoke  civilly,  but  Ned  saw  that  he  was  in  a 
dangerous  mood.  The  truth  was,  that  this  brute-force 
part  of  the  transaction  disgusted  and  chagrined  Laird's 
finer  nature  inexpressibly.  He  had  the  same  loathing — 
absolute  nausea — at  the  idea  of  meeting  Voss  as  he  felt 
once  when  he  had  inadvertently  been  present  at  the  dis 
section  of  a  dead  body.  He  added  presently : 

' '  My  only  business  with  Voss  is  to  secure  him.  Wil- 
kins  w^ill  give  him  his  directions  in  detail.  I  must  trust 
him  so  far." 

"  Wilkins  ?"     Willitts  looked  thoughtfully  at  the  knob 
of  his  cane.     "  The  point  of  attack  is  Bowyer,  you  said,  , 
sir?" 

"  Certainly.     Who  else  would  it  be  ?" 

"  Oh,  I'm  sure  I  don't  know,  Mr.  Laird,"  hastily.  It 
was  no  business  of  his  if  Wilkins  meant  to  go  back  of 
Bowyer  to  his  principal.  Latimer  was  nothing  to  him, 
not  even  an  acquaintance ;  and  if  the  thing  had  to  be 
done  at  all,  the  more  securely  it  was  done  the  better. 


CHAPTER    XXX. 

"A/TE.  LAIRD,  on  entering  the  hotel,  retired  to  make 
•4**r  a  careful  toilet,  and  without  taking  time  to  order 
breakfast,  sent  up  his  card  to  Miss  Maddox. 

"  You  are  sure  the  girl  is  still  here?"  he  asked  Ned, 
with  the  disrespectful  tone  in  which  he  always  spoke  of 
that  charming  woman. 

"Oh,  quite  sure.  The  Governor  gives  a  state  dinner 
this  evening,  and  Anna  has  telegraphed  for  a  trunkful 
of  finery." 


2G4  JOH}*   AKDEOSS. 

ts She'll  wait  an  hour  to  dress  now,  I  suppose." 

But  Anna,  who  usually  lay  in  bed  until  noon,  had  been 
up  and  armed  for  action  in  flowing  ribbons  and  crimps 
since  early  morning.  In  the  very  heat  of  the  fray  of  her 
love-affairs,  the  last  act  of  the  drama — it  was  no  time  for 
lying  in  bed.  Mr.  Laird  was  therefore  promptly  ush 
ered  up  to  her  parlour,  the  door  of  which  was  ajar.  He 
ran  against  a  man  in  the  dark  passage. 

He  was  gallant  and  tender,  as  was  his  wont,  with  Miss 
Maddox,  while  she,  in  the  innocent  frisky  gayety  with 
which  she  received  this  middle-aged  admirer,  was  quite 
lamblike.  She  chattered  unceasingly  as  he  placed  her 
chair  nearer  the  fire,  wondering  if  she  could  have  pro 
duced  any  real  impression  on  him  ?  He  was  a  little  too 
stout  for  a  lo~cr — but — no,  not  considering  his  enormous 
wealth.  With  his  portly  build  and  millions  to  back  it, 
he  was  really  quite — quite  ducal,  according  to  her  ideas 
of  a  duke.  She  did  not  see  her  father  come  into  the 
room  behind  her,  and  looked  around  when  she  heard  him 
speak,  her  fair  lashes  snapping  irritably,  and  then  ran  up 
to  kiss  him. 

"I  don't  know  whether  we  shall  admit  you,  papa,  or 
not.  Mr.  Laird  and  I  were  just  going  to  be  cosy  and 
confidential,  and  have  a  cup  of  coffee  together.  I'm  sure 
you  have  not  breakfasted,  Mr.  Laird  ?  We  really  did  not 
invite  you,  cher  papa  ! " 

"There,  there,  Anna,  don't  be  a  baby.  I'm  glad  to 
see  you,  Mr.  Laird,"  pushing  her  aside  and  dropping 
heavily  into  a  chair.  ' '  This  business  has  told  on  me, 
sir.  I'm  too  old  a  man  to  venture  into  such  doings.  I 
thought  it  was  all  up  yesterday." 

"There's  a  strong  opposition  to  the  measure,  I  know," 
calmly. 

"  I  should  say  there  was !  The  whole  state  is  roused. 
They've  enlisted  what  they  call  the  honest  element  of 
both  houses  against  us.  Chadwick  yesterday  denounced 


jon:sr  A^DKOSS.  265 

it  as  a  swindling  trick  to  support  a  gigantic  swindle. 
And  the  worst  of  it  is— he  told  the  truth ! "  glaring 
angrily  at  Laird.  "  If  I  had  my  money  once  out  of  it ! " 

"  Of  course,  my  opinion  is  not  that  of  Major  Chad- 
wick,  or  I  should  not  be  in  favour  of  the  bill,"  calmly. 
What,  bonbons  !  No,  thanks,  Miss  Maddox  !  You  will ' 
not  keep  these  lilies  and  roses  long  if  you  eat  candy  so 
early  in  the  morning.  I  ran  up,"  turning  composedly  to 
her  father,  "to  look  after  matters.  But  I  find  it  all  ar 
ranged.  You  have  secured  Andross's  vote  ?  " 

"Yes,  I  secured  it.  At  a  pretty  price,  too,"  mut 
tered  the  judge,  glowering  in  the  fire  with  a  certain 
shame  creeping  into  his  angry  face.  "I  don't  mean  a 
price,  exactly,  of  course.  But  the  fellow,  as  you  know, 
has  wanted  my  little  girl  here  for  years ;  and  to  keep  him 
in  a  good  humour  I  was  forced  to  consent,  that  is,  con 
ditionally.  Conditionally,  of  course.  There  are  several 
other  better  matches  which  Anna  could  have  made  ;  very 
brilliant  matches,  so  far  as  money  and  position  go.  But 
if  the  girl's  heart  is  set  on  Jack — and  to  make  sure  of 
his  vote—  -We  could  not  have  done  without  his  vote." 

Mr.  Laird,  still  standing,  leaning  on  the  mantel,  had 
been  watching  Anna  during  this  slowly  spoken  speech, 
for  the  first  time  puzzled  by  her.  Was  there  really  any 
thing  in  the  girl  beneath  her  shallow  trickery  ?  That 
was  assuredly  a  real  pallor  on  her  pinched  features,  and  an 
actual  fright  in  her  eyes,  which  were  fixed  on  her  father. 

:<  Tne  judge  does  not  misstate  the  case  for  you,  Miss 
Maddox  ?  "  said  Laird  gayly.  "Your  heart  is  not  cold  to 
poor  Jack  ?  You  will  reward  him  for  all  that  he  does 
for  us  ?  " 

Anna's  little  mouth  opened  and  shut  weakly,  once  or 
twice;  she  did  not  turn  her  eyes  from  their  terrified 
scrutiny  of  her  father.  "I— I  am  very  much  attached 
to  Mr.  Andross,"  she  simpered  at  last ;  "I'll  do  what  I 
can  to  help  you,  I'm  sure.  Is  it  so  t>ad,  papa?"  her 


266  JOHN   ASTDROSS. 

Yoice  growing  shrill.    "Are  we  going  to  lose  everything  ? 
the  house' and  horses  and  my  things  and  all  ?" 

"It  is  very  bad,"  interposed  Laird  gravely.  I  wish 
you  to  realize  all  that  depends  on  you  in  the  next  twenty- 
four  hours.  That  was  what  brought  me  here.  Other 
men  we  can  buy ;  but  you  must  hold  Andross.  Keep 
him  with  you  ;  humour  him  to  the  top  of  his  bent  until 
it  is  time  for  him  to  vote.  Don't  give  him  time  to  think. 
Whenever  Jack  thinks,  he  is  sure  to  change  his  opinion/* 
smiling.  "  You  understand  what  you  are  to  do  ?" 

"  Oh,  quite,"  her  eyes  sparkling.  "  I  have  been  told  I 
had  a  very  good  head  for  politics,  and  I'm  so  flattered 
that  you  think  so,  Mr.  Laird.  The  French  ladies  used 
to  do  that  sort  of  thing  in  their  salons,  you  know—; 
they  quite  ruled  the  nation.  Now,  papa,  dear,  go  find 
Mr.  Andross,  and  tell  him  I  want  to  go  out  sleighing  in 
this  lovely  snow." 

The  judge  rose.  "If  the  bill  passes  we're  safe,  Mr. 
Laird  ?"  holding  him  by  the  sleeve. 

"Yes  if  we  are  successful  in  one  or  two  other  little  ar 
rangements,"  drawing  back,  so  that  the  judge's  hand 
slipped  down. 

"And  if  the  bill  passes,  you  see,  Anna  - 
meditatively  hitched  up  his  trousers  and  pulled  down  his 
waistcoat— "  if  it  passes,  and  Jack  is  reflected,  his  for 
tune  and  ours  are  made.     I  don't  see  that  you  could  do 
better  than  to  marry  him.     His  income  will  be  nearly  equal 
to  Bislow's,  and  considering  that  you're  fond  of  Jack- 
Again  the  insignificant  little  face  was  strangely  dis, 
torted  by  some  powerful  emotion.      -Too  powerful 
belong  there,"  thought  Laird. 

"It  will  all  be  right,  papa,"  she  cried,  pushing  him 
toward  the  door  with  an  effort  at  archness.  '  Send  Jack 
to  me  We  shall  sleigh  this  morning,  and  go  to  the  din* 
ner,  and  I  will  be  in  the  Senate  gallery  as  soon  as  it  opens, 
and  keep  my  eye  on  him,"  turning  to  Laird. 


JOHN   ANDROSS.  2G7 

"We  all  know  the  magic  of  that  look.  By  the  way, 
Miss  Maddox,  who  was  the  man  I  met  as  I  came  in? 
Julius  Ware,  was  it  not  ?" 

"Yes,"  turning  away  from  him  to  warm  her  hands  at 
the  fire.  "It  was  Mr.  Ware.  He  came  up  yesterday,  to 
lecture  here." 

"He  has  turned  street  preacher,  or  something  of  that 
kind,  I  hear." 

"He  has  adopted  the  faith  of  Jung  Stilling,"  quickly 
as  a  parrot  reciting  its  lesson. 

"  Oh  ?  Well,  Miss  Maddox,  take  my  advice,  and  leave 
Mr.  Ware  to  his  life  of  faith  for  to-day.  Do  not  bring 
him  in  contact  with  Andross.  Just  for  to-day,  until  the 
vote  is  taken.  You  understand  ?" 

"I  understand,"  quietly,  the  curly  lashes  dropped 
timidly  on  her  cheek.  She  scarcely  lifted  them  as  she 
returned  Mr.  Laird's  bow  and  farewell. 

On  leaving  her,  Laird  went  to  his  own  room,  and  sat 
patiently  by  the  window  until  he  saw  a  gayly  caparisoned 
sleigh  draw  up  at  the  side  entrance.  Andross,  after 
tenderly  lifting  Anna  into  it,  and  tucking  the  skins  about 
her,  sprang  to  his  own  seat,  and  shaking  the  reins  loose, 
drove  rapidly  away  into  the  soft  mist  of  falling  snow. 

"  There  he  goes  !"  he  said  to  Willitts,  who  was  waiting 
beside  him.  "The  snow  and  the  bells  and  the  pretty 
face  are  enough  to  keep  all  thoughts  of  honesty  or  re 
morse  out  of  Jack's  head.  He's  safe — for  an  hour.  Now 
bring  in  your  man  Voss." 


CHAPTER     XXXI. 

"M"ED  WILLITTS,  escorting  the  champion  of  the  P. 
R.  along  the  corridors,  eyed  him  askance,  and  en 
treated  him  respectfully  as  to  precedency,  with  very  much 
the  same  kind  of  cautious  gentleness  with  which  he  would 


268  JOHN   A^DKOSS. 

have  handled  a  bull-terrier  that  he  was  about  to  muzzle, 
but  which  might  turn  on  himself  some  day.  He  told 
Gerty,  his  sister,  about  him,  afterwards,  as  he  would  of  a 
strange  beast  in  a  menagerie.  "  I  met  the  creature  once 
by  chance,"  he  said.  "  He  has  blue  eyes  and  fair  hair, 
and  a  very  pleasant,  agreeable  laugh  ;  and  a  hand  as 
small  and  nicely  kept  as  a  woman's.  You'd  have  taken 
him  for  a  genteel  mechanic,  if  it  wasn't  for  a  big  emerald 
pin  in  his  shirt,  vulgarly  set,  of  course.  But  a  very  nice 
stone — very  nice. " 

When  he  had  shut  him  in  with  Laird,  he  came  away 
with  a  sigh  of  relief.  The  colloquy  was  a  long  one. 
Andross  had  returned  with  Anna  before  it  was  over,  and 
Willitts,  passing  the  door  of  her  parlour  now  and  then, 
could  bear  her  merry  voice  and  Jack's  ringing  laugh  ;  the 
tones  growing  softer  and  almost  inaudible  at  times. 

"He  has  forgotten  there  is  such  a  thing  as  a  bill  or 
legislature  on  earth,"  he  said  to  Laird,  meeting  him  as 
he  came  out  of  his  room. 

"All  the  better.  But  I  must  remind  him  of  them 
now." 

"What  is  wrong?"  For  Laird,  for  the  first  time  in 
Willitts's  knowledge  of  him,  wore  a  haggard,  uncertain 
look. 

"Nothing  that  can  not  be  easily  set  aside.  This  fel 
low,"  pointing  his  thumb  backward  over  his  shoulder, 
"is  disposed  to  be  contumacious,  that  is  all." 

"Asks  too  much  ?" 

"  It  is  not  probable  I  would  stop  to  higgle  on  a  matter 
of  a  few  dollars  to-day.  No.  He  wants  his  safety  en 
sured  after  the  thing  is  done." 

"  Hasn't  he  your  word  ?" 

"My  word;"  laughing,  "is  not  enough  for  him.  He 
says,  'I'd  take  your  name  for  any  amount  of  money. 
But  this  is  honour,  Mr.  Laird.  And  I'm  not  so  sure 
about  it  there/"  and  Laird  laughed  again  with  a  full  ap- 


A^DEOSS.  269 

preciation  of  the  joke.  "He  prefers  Jack's.  Andross 
got  the  fellow's  pardon  some  years  ago,  you  remember, 
and  he  looks  upon  him  apparently,  as  a  power  in  the 
land,  and  the  real  type  of  an  aristocrat.  He  will  not  be 
satisfied  unless  Jack  assures  him  it  shall  all  come  right 
at  the  end." 

"Which  is  impossible,"  after  a  pause.  "You  can  not 
expose  this  thing  to  Andross." 

"I  must  do  it." 

"He'll  kick  the  traces  then  altogether.  He  is  an 
honest,  humane  fellow,  at  bottom,  sir." 

"What  am  I  ?"  Mr.  Laird's  manner  was  almost  bland 
in  its  civility,  but  a  heat  fairly  purple  spread  up  from  his 
throat.  "If  he  kicks  the  traces,  as  you  express  it,  I 
shall  be  forced  to  let  him  feel  the  yoke  on  his  neck. 
Where  is  he  ?" 

"In  Miss  Maddox's  parlour." 

Laird  bent  his  steps  thither,  taking  no  heed  to  the 
obsequious  clerks  and  porters  who  crossed  his  way  for  the 
purpose  of  bowing  to  him  ;  while  Ned  patrolled  the  hall, 
his  thin  lips  angrily  shut.  "  Laird,"  he  thought,  "  ought 
to  let  that  poor  devil  alone-."  If  it  had  been  himself, 

now he — Ned,  would  as  lief  have  set  Voss  on  Bow- 

yer  as  not ;  one  rattes  on  another  ;  hit  or  miss — upper 
most  dog,  win !  But  Jack  was  different.  Jack  was 
cursedly  gentlemanly  in  his  feelings  !  It  was  an  infernal 
shame  !  He  went  down  for  some  brandy  to  soothe  him  ; 
but  he  avoided  passing  through  the  corridor  in  which 
Anna's  rooms  opened,  where  Laird  had  already  met  An 
dross.  He  had  a  dull  feeling  that  a  man  was  being  done 
to  death  there.  » 

Mr.  Laird,  finding  a  room  unoccupied  opposite  to  Miss 
Maddox's,  entered  it,  gave  directions ,  ihat  he  should  not 
be  disturbed,  and  sent  to  Andross  asking  for  an  interview 
of  a  few  minutes. 

"  Mr.  Laird  ?"    Jack  looked  at  the  servant  bewildered 


270  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

when  the  message  was  given.  "Is  Houston  Laird  in  the 
house  ?" 

"Yes,  sir."  For  Houston  Laird's  face  and  name  were 
known  to  every  man  in  his  fief  of  Pennsylvania. 

"I  will  come,  certainly."  But  he  waited  irresolute 
after  the  man  had  left  the  room.  He  had  been  standing 
with  Anna  by  the  open  window;  while  she  thrust  out  her 
little  rose-leaf  of  a  hand  to  catch  the  snowflakes,  holding 
them  to  him,  to  see  if  he  could  trace  the  tiny  stars  and 
angles  before  they  melted  on  the  warm  pink ;  to  be  kissed 
away — always  to  be  kissed  away.  The  fire  burned  low 
and  clear,  the  room  was  quiet.  The  steady  white  fall  of 
snow  shut  out  the  view  without.  It  did  not  seem  to 
Jack  that  they  were  in  a  hotel  parlour,  playing  like  two 
children,  but  in  some  far,  lonely  corner  of  the  world; 
just  they  two  together.  Here  the  fire  was  warm  :  there 
the  snow  fell,  and  she  was  beside  him,  the  one  woman 
on  all  God's  earth.  Her  soft  luminous  eyes  looked  into 
his ;  her  breath  touched  his  cheek,  her  warm  moist  palm 
with  the  drop  of  snow-water  on  it,  was  pressed  to  his 
mouth.  He  had  waited  so  long  for  her — years  and  years. 
'Now  she  was  his.  Bills  and  legislatures  were,  in  fact,  as 
things  in  a  dream.  If  he  thought  of  his  fall  at  all,  it 
was  to  vaguely  remember  that  Anna  had  showed  him  an 
hour  ago,  how  when  this  one  sacrifice  was  made — her 
father  saved,  and  the  marriage  once  over,  they  could  live 
and  act  just  as  Jack  pleased.  Be  as  honest  and  honour 
able  as  missionaries  or  martyrs,  as  he  chose,  and  live  on  a 
crust.  "What  shall  we  want  with  money?  I  have 
plenty  of  things  to  wear,  and  do  I  care  so  much  for  eat 
ing  ?  now,  do  I  ? "  she  had  lisped,  clasping  his  arm  and 
looking  up  in  his  face  with  an  arch  solemnity  that  drove 
him  wild  with  delight.  His  face  burned  and  his  eyes 
shone,  as  though  with  wine. 

Just  at  that  moment  the  man  had  announced  Houston 
Laird,  and  Jack  being,  as  we  know,  a  full-blooded  sen- 


AKDKOSS.  271 

sitive  fellow,  felt  a  sudden  chill  at  the  name,  as  though 
in  the  heat  of  a  summer  day  death  had  touched  him  on 
the  shoulder. 

"  I'll  go,  certainly,  Anna,"  he  said  again.  "  I  shall  be 
back  in  a  few  moments.  Mr.  Laird  can  have  no  busi 
ness  with  me  that  need  detain  me  from  you.  Good-bye, 
darling!" 

It  was  with  the  soft  pressure  of  her  arms  about  his 
neck,  and  the  touch  of  her  lips  yet  on  his,  that  he  crossed 
the  hall  and  entered  the  room  where,  for  the  last  time  in 
his  life,  Laird  waited  for  him. 

A  shallower  man,  or  one  with  less  kindliness  than 
Laird,  would  have  greeted  Andross  with  a  show  of  excess 
of  friendliness.  But  the  struggle  was  to  be  one  as  for 
life  and  death,  as  Jack  would  know ;  fair  words  or  sham 
courtesy  would  count  for  nothing.  Besides,  Laird  was 
sorry  for  the  lad ;  he  was  fond  of  him  in  his  way ;  would 
have  spared  him — if  he  could. 

There  was  a  grave  sincerity  in  his  manner,  therefore, 
which  warmed  Andross's  heart  to  him  at  once.  But  the 
whole  world  was  so  warm  to  Jack  that  day !  It  was  so 
full  of  delight  and  friendliness,  that  if  the  similitude  of 
death  could  have  met  him,  the  happy  fellow  would  not 
have  known  him,  but  with  his  glamoured  eyes  had 
clothed  the  skeleton  in  comfortable  flesh  a.id  blood. 

"  Come  in.     How  are  you,  Andross  ?  " 

"I?  Oh,  very  well.  Never  was  better  in  my  life," 
hesitating  a  brief  moment,  and  then  holding  out  his  hand. 
It  was  years,  as  Laird  remembered,  since  Jack  had  shown 
him  this  proof  of  confidence.  It  embarrassed  him  for 
the  moment. 

"Sit  down,  John,  sit  down,"  with  an  uneasy  hos 
pitality. 

"No,  thank  you.  I  am  engaged,  particularly,  this 
afternoon,  and  must  go  back  as  soon  as  we  have  finished 
our  business.  What  can  I  do  for  you  ?  " 


272  JOHN"  ANDROSS. 

Laird,  who  was  much  the  shorter  man  of  the  two, 
looked  up  at  him,  while  he  hesitated  for  a  word.  The 
youth,  the  finely  cut  face,  the  personal  presence  of  the 
man,  strangely  affected  and  agitated  him.  He  could 
understand,  while  looking  at  him,  without  a  reason,  why 
this  brute  Voss  was  ready  to  put  his  faith  in  him,  even  to 
risking  his  neck  on  the  gallows.  He  reminded  himself 
that  he  had  a  sure  yoke  about  the  fellow's  neck ;  yet  he 
himself  could  not  credit  it. 

'  "What  can  you  do  for  me  ?"  he  said  meaningly.  "I'll 
tell  you,  Andross.  But  sit  down.  It  will  take  some 
time." 

"No.  I  prefer  to  stand."  A  look  of  doubt  began  to 
creep  into  Jack's  eye;  he  followed  every  movement  of 
Laird's  closely,  as  he  walked  up  and  down  the  room, 
forcing  himself  to  appear  at  ease.  Laird  never  had  been 
'  at  ease  with  Andross,  as  with  other  men,  even  when  Jack 
was  but  a  boy ;  he  always  remembered  not  only  that  the 
lad  had  come  of  a  different  race  from  his  own ;  had  been 
born  to  culture  and  gentle  manners  as  his  birthright; 
but  that  the  money,  which  other  men  worshipped  him 
for,  counted  for  absolutely  nothing  with  this  serf  of  his, 
whose  aims,  ambitions,  tastes,  were  all  pitched  at  a  higher 
level  than  his  own.  It  was  not  a  pleasant  thing  to  be 
forced  to  remember  that  these  aims  and  tastes  might  have 
been  his  also ;  that  he  had  made  a  meaner,  more  vulgar 
man  of  himself  for  the  sake  of  this  money ;  a  man  whom 
Andross,  penniless  and  with  the  lash  on  his  back,  despised. 

Judge  Maddox,  in  his  place,  with  all  his  good-humour, 
would  have  used  the  lash  now  unsparingly,  to  save  his 
money ;  but  Laird  was  galled  by  all  this  old  self-reproach. 
When  they  stood  face  to  face,  he  remembered  that  he, 
with  all  the  weight  of  middle  age  and  power  on  his  side, 
was  going  to  drag  this  young  fellow  from  the  clean, 
honest  path  he  had  chosen,  down  to  a  way  from  whose 
foulness  he  never  could  escape. 


JOHN   AXDROSS,  273 

Maddox  would  have  put  "the  job"  in  the  plainest 
speech,  but  something  in  Laird  responded  so  faithfully 
to  the  honesty  of  Jack's  purpose,  that  he  couLd  not  find 
words  to  cloak  his  own.  Although  Voss  was  waiting,  he 
thought  moodily  through  two  or  three  turns,  how,  if  it 
were  not  for  this  money  and  the  constant  fight  to  keep 
it,  he  might  have  been  a  man  whom  Jack  or  his  own  son 
could  respect 

"But,  to  business!"  He  stopped,  reminding  himself 
of  his  position  in  Wall  street,  and  that  Jack  was  penni 
less.  But  that  did  not  put  him  at  ease. 

' '  You  ask  what  you  shall  do  for  me  ?  "  plunging  sud 
denly  into  the  middle  of  the  subject.  "I  must  remind 
you,  Mr.  Andross,  that  you  have,  as  yet,  done  but  little 
for  me.  I  procured  you  Sheffield's  seat,  in  order  that 
you  might  repay  me  by  at  least  a  just  consideration  for 
my  interests.  You  have  not  done  so  by  word  or  vote  this 
winter." 

Jack  was  fully  on  guard  now. 

"  Pardon  me,  while  I  amend  your  statement,"  couiv 
teously.  "  You  gave  me  the  seat,  because  you  were  afraid 
that,  once  out  of  your  trammels,  I  would  betray  your 
secrets.  You  brought  me  here  just  as  the  unruly  slave  of 
the  gang  is  placed  near  the  overseer." 

"  Tut,  tut !  Don't  use  such  strong  language.  You 
always  do  use  too  strong  language,  Andross." 

"I  owed  you  no  debt  of  gratitude.  I  do  owe" — he 
stopped  abruptly,  his  countenance  fell,  "that  is,  until 
last  night,  I  thought  I  owed  some  duty  to  the  people  and 
some  respect  to  myself  ;  and  since  I  came  into  the  Senate 
I  tried  to  pay  both.  As  far  as  I  was  capable  of  judging, 
I  have  voted  and  acted  honestly  for  the  service  of  the 
people  I  represented." 

"Forgetting,  apparently,  that  your  very  salary  was  a 
perquisite  from  me." 

"My  salary,"  continued  Jack,  "1    have  saved,  with 


JOHN   ANDROSS. 

other  earnings,  to  pay  a  debt  which  I  owed  at  Nittany. 
I  was  forced  into  that — that  debt  by  your  agents.     They 

drove  me  to  the  wall "  again  he  broke  off,  confused 

and  excited. 

But  Laird,  apparently,  saw  nothing  of  his  agitation, 
"  I  have  no  wish  to  quarrel  with  you,"  he  said,  coldly. 
"I  had  a  service  to  ask,  and  I  preferred  not  to  ask  it  as 
a  favour  nor  a  right,  but  to  put  it  on  the  ground  of  a 
simple  business  transaction.  Work,  for  which  you  had 
already  received  the  value." 

"What  is  the  service?  I  have  already  promised  my 
vote  to  the  Transit  bill.  The  very  newsboys  and  pages 
are  speculating  by  this  time  how  much  it  cost  to  buy 
me." 

"  Pah,  nonsense  !  You  are  morbid.  This  is  nothing 
as  serious  as  a  vote,"  adopting  suddenly  a  confidential, 
friendly  tone.  "  It  is  only  a  word  or  two  I  want  from 
you,  Jack — your  influence  with  a  man  with  whom  you 
have  influence,  and  I  have  none.  I  want  to  hire  his  time, 
and  he  refuses  to  give  it,  unless  you — will  endorse  me." 

"  Endorse  you  ?  As  to  your  ability  to  pay  ?  How  ab 
surd  !"  laughing.  "  Certainly,  you  shall  have  my  recom 
mendation.  Why  did  you  introduce  such  a  trifling  mat 
ter  so  formally  ?  Where  is  the  man  ?" 

"Here.  Just  round  the  corridor.  In  my  room," 
hastily.  "  I'll  send  Willitts  to  bring  him.  It  is  not  pre 
cisely  endorsement,"  with  anxious  hesitation.  "I  want 
to  employ  the  fellow  on  a  rather  troublesome  business, 
and  he  requires  to  be  assured  that  he  shall  suffer  no  loss 
by  it — bodily  or  otherwise." 

Jack  looked  up  at  him,  a  doubtful  suspicion  gathering 
in  his  frank  face.  "  I  don't  understand.  What  have  I 
to  do  with  his  bodily  loss  ?  What  bodily  loss  can  ensue  ?" 

"Ton  my  word  I  don't  know  what  absurd  whim  the 
fellow  has  !  All  I  do  know,  is  that  he  has  taken  a  fancy 
to  you,  and  refuses  to  clench  the  bargain  without  your 


JOHN   ANDROSS.  275 

counsel  to  do  so.  You  need  not  be  annoyed  by  seeing 
him — a  most  importunate  fellow.  If  you  will  write  a 
line  or  two  assuring  him  that  in  our  business  transactions 
I  will  care  for  his  interests  as  my  own ?" 

Jack,  after  a  moment's  pause,  drew  a  chair  forward 
and  sat  down.  "  I  will  look  into  the  matter  a  little  first. 
What  is  the  man's  name  ?" 

"  He  calls  himself — Voss.  I  think.  Yes,  Voss.  You 
procured  his  discharge  from  the  Eastern  Penitentiary  a 
few  years  ago,  and  the  fellow  has  made  a  sort  of  demi 
god  of  you  since." 

"Voss?  Yes,  I  remember."  He  sat  silent  for  a  min 
ute,  and  then  looked  up  at  Laird  quietly.  "I  under 
stand.  You  intend  to  use  this  poor  ruffian  in  some  way 
which  will  bring  upon  him  the  punishment  of  the  law, 
and  want  me  to  assure  him  that  you  will  protect  him 
from  it." 

"You  state  the  matter  baldly.  But  that  is  about  the 
gist  of  it.  There's  no  use  of  any  circumlocution  farther," 
coming  up  and  looking  fully  at  Andross,  with  very  much 
the  look  of  a  bull-dog  driven  to  a  corner. 

"No.  Not  with  me.  I  know  that  you  will  not  pro 
tect  him,"  calmly.  "  The  Eing  have  usually  found  Moya- 
mensing  or  Sing  Sing  the  safest  places  to  keep  their  toojs 
after  a  job — until  they  needed  them  again." 

"  There  is  no  need  of  any  crimination  or  recrimination 
passing  between  us.  I  told  you  I  did  not  mean  to  quar 
rel  with  you.  You  refuse  to  serve  me  in  this  thing  ?" 

"  I  certainly  refuse.  If  the  poor  wretch  has  a  good 
opinion  of  me,  I  assuredly  shall  not  use  it  to  drive  him 
faster  to  the  devil.  If  that  is  all  of  your  business  with 
me,  Mr.  Laird,  you  might  have  known  that  it  was  hardly 
worth  while  to  disturb  me,"  rising. 

"  One  moment,  Andross.  It  would  be  better  for  us 
first  to  look  at  this  matter  in  a  business  point  of  view, 
without  any  loss  of  temper " 


276  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

"I  am  not  losing  my  temper,"  flushing  hotly.  "I 
will  not  look  at  the  matter  from  any  point  of  view  what 
ever.  I  am  under  the  yoke  of  your  accursed  Ring  my 
self,  but  as  God  sees  me,  I'll  not  drag  any  other  man 
under  it  to  perdition  ! " 

Laird  laughed  coolly.  "  It  would  be  hard  to  increase 
Voss's  chances  for  a  good  long  stay  in  purgatory,  I  fancy. 
Now,  Mr.  Andross,  this  is  a  sheer  Quixotism  on  your 
part.  The  man  is  a  ruffian,  in  the  grain.  I  want,  I 
frankly  confess,  to  use  his  ruffianism  against  a  fellow  of 
his  own  sort;  to  punish  him  temporarily — that  is  all. 
Yoss  has  no  religious  scruples — his  only  fear  is  of  the 
Black  Maria  and  Moya.  I  give  you  my  word,  he  shall  es 
cape  both.  Will  you  give  yours  to  him  ?" 

Jack  had  been  watching  Laird  with  an  astonished  pity 
as  he  spoke-.  "  I  knew  this  kind  of  business  was  done  by 
the  hirelings  of  the  Ring,"  he  said  gravely.  "But  I 
would  not  have  believed,  unless  I  heard  it  from  his  own 
mouth,  that  Houston  Laird  would  take  part  in  it." 

Laird  made  a  hasty  step  towards  him,  then  paused. 
"  One  is  driven  by  necessity  to  many  disagreeable  things," 
he  said  calmly.  "I  think  you  will  find,  before  we  have 
ended,  that  it  will  be  to  your  interest  as  to  mine,  to  take 
part  in  this." 

His  calmness  was  more  dangerous  than  any  rage. 
Andross  felt  that  the  decisive  moment  had  come.  He 
laid  down  his  hat,  bracing  himself  unconsciously.  "I 
am  ready  to  hear  all  you  have  to  say. " 

He  had  never  struggled  with  Laird  before,  except 
when  the  right  was  on  his  side ;  and  he  had  always  been 
worsted.  Always.  But  he  would  not  be  worsted  now  ! 
Was  he  to  help  drag  this  man  down  to  hell  ?  Did  they 
dare  to  come  to  Jack  Andross  with  such  a  job  ?  Though 
he  had  sold  himself  last  night 

"Goon,  Mr.  Laird." 

"'I  need  not  remind  you,  Andross,  of  your  position 


JOHN  ANDBOSS.  $77 

here.  You  are  a  prominent  leader,  beginning  to  be  known 
as  a  brilliant  orator,  handsome " 

"What  has  that  to  do  with  Voss?  Keep  to  the  sub 
ject  This  poor  bully  whom  you  wish  to  hire " 

The  rage  and  scorn  which  he  repressed  flashed  in  his 
eyes,  and  made  him  stammer. 

"  You  will  see  the  connection  presently.  There  is  a 
straight  road  of  success  open  for  you.  I  need  not  mark 
it  in  detail.  In  a  month  you  will  marry  the  woman  you 
love if  you  serve  me  in  this  matter." 

"  You  can  not  hurt  me  there.  She  is  mine.  Nothing 
can  take  her  from  me. " 

"It  is  necessary,"  continued  Laird  quietly,  "for  the 
very  existence  of  the  Ring,  that  this  Voss  should  serve 
me ;  will  you  compel  him  to  do  so  ?" 

"I  have  told  you,  I  will  not !"  with  a  loud  emphasis. 

"Then  it  will  be  needful  for  me  to  go  into  a  commit 
tee  room  yonder,"  nodding  toward  the  State-house,  "and 
show  an  affidavit  which  I  have  in  my  pocket-book,  signed 
by  Shortlief  Kenny,  which  proves  that  on  last  July,  John 
Andross — " 

"Kenny For  God's  sake  ! "  An  dross  staggered 

back  to  a  chair,  his  fingers  tugging  at  his  cravat,  the 
blood  leaving  his  ruddy  face  livid. 

Laird  paused  for  a  minute.  "  The  Legislature  is  lax 
enough  as  to  morals.  But  we  can  not  reelect  a  known 
thief  to  his  seat ;  or,  would  Maddox,  do  you  think,  give 
his  daughter  to  the  man  that  had  stolen  from  him  ?" 

Andross  got  up  at  last.  His  chin  trembled  like  a 
woman's.  "Let  it  come.  I  deserved  it.  But  I  had 

just  got  the  money  ready  to  pay  into  the  Works Oh, 

God  !  These  are  hard  lines  ! " 

"  You  will  not  give  Yoss  the  order  then  ?  Think  better 
of  it,  Andross,"  laying  his  hand  on  him  soothingly. 

"JSTo!"  pushing  him  violently  back.  "I'll  never  do 
it!" 


278  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

Laird  hesitated,  eyeing  him  thoughtfully,  and  then 
left  the  room  for  a  moment,  unnoticed  by  Jack.  There 
was  a  little  tap  at  the  door,  after  he  reentered,  and  An 
na's  face,  showered  over  with  golden  curls,  was  thrust  in. 

"Recall  yourself,  sir,"  whispered  Laird.  "She  knows 
nothing  ! "  The  judge  came  puffing  in  after  her. 

"Why,  dear  me,  have  you  two  been  quarrelling?  Why 
don't  you  look  at  me,  Jack?"  touching  his  sleeve. 
"You've  been  here  an  hour.  I  thought  you  were  never 
coming  back  to  me." 

He  looked  at  her  with  a  smile ;  the  poor  wretch  could 
not  keep  the  bitter  tears  out  of  his  eyes,  ashamed  of  them 
as  he  was.  " I  never  will  go  back,  Anna." 

"Never!"  with  a  terrified  little  scream,  holding  by 
his  arm  and  looking  round  to  Laird  for  her  cue. 

"There  is  a  difficulty,  Miss  Maddox,"  Laird  said, 
"which  I  can  explain  to  you.  I  require  of  Mr.  Andross 
a  service  that  costs  him  nothing,  but  on  which  my  finan 
cial  credit  and  that  of  your  father  depend.  In  my  anger 
at  his  refusal  I  was  so  rash  as  to  threaten  that  Judge 
Maddox  would  not  give  his  daughter's  hand  to  a  man 
who  disobliged  him  in  so  important  a  matter,  and  who," 
glancing  significantly  at  the  judge,  "could  no  longer  be 
considered  the  favoured  organ  of  our  Company." 

"And  you  were  quite  right,  sir,"  cried  the  judge. 
"Nothing  for  nothing's  my  motto.  Are  you  going  back 
in  your  vote  on  the  Transit  bill  ? "  turning  fiercely  on 
Jack. 

But  Andross  did  not  hear  him.  His  eyes  were  fixed  on 
Anna.  All  the  love,  all  the  long  struggle  of  the  man's 
life  were  in  them,  if  there  had  been  anybody  who  chose 
to  read  them. 

"Anna,  you  shall  decide  for  me."  He  took  her  hands, 
and  drew  her  in  front  of  him.  The  judge  would  have  in 
terfered,  but  Andross  motioned  him  away.  "  Stand 
back,  sir.  You  have  no  right  to  come  between  us." 


JOHX   ANDBOSS.  279 

Anna  sobbed,  and  looked  over  at  Laird.  "Why  cer 
tainly,  dear  Jack,  I'll  decide,"  she  cried.  Secretly,  she 
wished  he  had  a  glass  of  wine  to  bring  some  colour  into 
his  face.  It  was  quite  ugly.  So  sallow  and  contracted  ! 

"  This  work  which  this  man  Laird  gives  me  is  vile.  I 
can  not  even  name  it  to  you.  But  if  I  refuse  to  do  it,  I 
lose  you.  If  I  consent — they  can  not  take  you  from  me. 
What  shall  I  do  ?  I — I  can  not  give  you  up  ! "  His  hold 
of  her  was  so  heavy  that  she  could  hardly  bear  the  pain. 
But  for  once  the  woman  showed  a  certain  strength.  The 
same  incomprehensible  expression  of  perplexity  and  terror 
which  Laird  had  noticed  before,  came  into  her  face ; 
from  some  secret  under-current  of  thought,  as  he  plainly 
saw. 

"It  would  be  wrong  for  you  to  do  it,  Jack  ?"  she  said 
gently.  "  It  would  be  a  sin,  and  you  would  do  it  to  keep 
me?  Then  I  think" — withdrawing  herself  slowly  from  his 
hold  :  but  she  stopped,  with  a  little  quiver.  "  But  then, 
if  you  don't,  poor  papa  will  be  quite  ruined  !  The  house 
and  everything  go — and —  " 

There  was  an  absolute  silence  through  the  room. 
"Dear  Jack,"  she  said  at  last,  her  puny  features  con 
tracted  like  an  old  woman's;  "I  think  you  had  better 
be  obliging,  and  be  governed  by  Mr.  Laird,  and  then — " 
she  lifted  his  hand  so  as  to  press  it  against  her  lips. 

"  Then — you  will  not  desert  me  ?  When  I  pay  this 
price  for  you,  you  are  mine  for  life  ?" 

It  was  noticeable  that  it  was  not  Laird's  faith  for  which 
he  required  a  pledge,  but  Anna's. 

She  gave  an  hysteric,  exhausted  scream.  "How  can  I 

satisfy  you  all?  Poor  papa's  fortune,  and Oh,  I 

dare  not,  I  dare  not !" 

"  But  you  love  me,  Anna  ?    If  I  have  not  that " 

She  caught  Laird's  eye,  and  was  suddenly  calm.  "Of 
course  I  love  you,"  looking  beyond  him  at  her  prompter 
like  a  whipped  child.  "  It's  not  fair  to  lay  such  burdens 


280  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

on  poor  little  me !  I  think — I  think  I  am  going  to 
die  ! "  sinking  down. 

Andross  carried  her  as  he  would  a  baby  to  the  sofa, 
and  laid  her  down,  stopping  to  lift  a  lock  of  hair  gently 
back  that  had  fallen  over  her  face  ;  then  he  turned  his 
back  on  her.  "  It  was  not  fair  to  ask  her  to  decide.  I 
will  do  as  you  wish.  Is  the  man — Voss — here  ?" 

"In  one  moment,  Mr.  Andross."  Laird  hurried  to 
the  door.  "Willitts!" 

"  I  don't  know  what  this  Voss  matter  is,  Fm  sure," 
said  the  judge  ponderously.  "  I  hope  you're  not  offend 
ed  with  me,  John.  I  really  thought  you  were  going 
back  on  us  about  that  bill  business." 

But  Jack  did  not  hear  him.  Anna,  her  faintness 
past,  looked  at  him  out  of  the  corner  of  her  eye  unseen. 

In  a  minute,  Willitts  ushered  in  Voss  and  speedily  dis 
appeared.  Andross  hardly  waited,  for  the  door  to  close. 

"  Mr.  Voss,  I  understand  that  you  require  my  advice  be 
fore  you  close  with  whatever  offer  Mr.  Laird  or  his  agents 
may  make  you.  I  do  advise  you,  to  accept  their  terms." 

"Well,  you  see,  Mr.  Andross,  it  is  a  ticklish  and  un 
pleasant  kind  of  thing;  to  begin  with " 

"We  will  not  discuss  business  before  the  lady,"  hastily 
interposed  Laird. 

"You  had  better  come  to  your  own  room,  Anna,"  said 
her  father. 

"No.     I'll  stay.     I  want  to  see  this  gentleman." 

"I'll  be  careful."  Voss  removed  his  hat  and  ran  his 
hand  through  his  oily  hair.  "I  have  a  great  regard  for 
the  fair  sex  myself,  ma'am." 

Anna,  on  the  sofa,  nodded  and  smiled  sweetly  on  him. 
Voss,  who  had  as  shrewd  a  sight  as  one  of  his  own  ter 
riers,  perceived  that  the  men  before  him  were  strongly 
moved  by  some  discussion  which  he  had  not  heard,  and 
the  consciousness  of  this  embarrassed'  and  checked  his 
garrulity.  .  i 


JOHN"   ASTDKOSS.  281 

"  I'm  quite  satisfied  with  Mr.  Laird's  terms/'  lie  said 
gruffly,  turning  to  Andross,  "as  to  money.  But  it's  what 
we  call  a  fancy  job,  and  I'd  rather  have  nothing  to  do 
with  it,  unless  I  spoke  to  you  first,  Boss,  and  you'd  give 
me  your  word  it  ud  be  all  right,  and  no  backing  down 
on  me  in  the  end.  As  one  gentleman  to  another. " 

Mr.  Andross  did  not  answer  readily.  "  I  advise  you  to 
take  the  job ;  as  one  gentleman  would  another,"  breaking 
into  a  loud  laugh.  "We  are  all  gentlemen  here  to 
gether,"  still  laughing,  with  what  Voss  thought  unsea 
sonable  gayety. 

"Well,  sir;  that's  all  right,  then,"  he  said,  confused. 
"  I  needn't  have  made  such  a  p'int  of  it,  I  suppose.  But 
I  knowed  you,  and  I  wasn't  acquainted  with  your  friend 
Mr.  Laird.  When  I  heerd  in  New  York,  this  fall,  you'd 
been  run  into  Billy  Sheifield's  place,  I  just  remarked  to 
the  boys,  ( There's  one  man  in  the  legislator  is  a  friend  of 
mine.  He's  a  man  you  can  tie  to."'  Ho  had  come  up 
close,  with  an  assumption  of  intimacy.  With  all  his  fas 
tidious  tastes,  it  never  annoyed  Andross  to  "fellowship" 
with  the  dirtiest  or  most  vicious  ruffian ;  he  answered 
Voss  as  though  they  had  been  equals,  with  a  wild,  uncer 
tain  wandering  of  the  eye. 

"You're  quite  right,  Voss.  If  I  have  a  virtue,  it's 
firmness.  All  my  friends,  and  God,  too,  I  suppose,  know 
how  far  I'm  to  be  trusted,"  laughing  again,  until  ho 
caught  Voss's  bewildered  look,  when  it  occurred  to  him 
that  there  was  but  little  manliness  in  jibing  or  whining 
over  his  fall  to  this  bully.  "You  can  go  now,"  he  said 
abruptly,  nodding  to  the  door. 

Voss  was  used  to  the  changing  moods  of  people  who 
trafficked  with  him ;  he  made  a  cringing  bow.  Andross 
was  none  the  less  to  him  the  finest  gentleman  he  had 
ever  seen,  because  he  ordered  him  out  like  a  dog. 

"  Well,  sir  ?  "  he  whispered,  passing  Laird. 

"Go. at  once  to  Wilkins,  I  have  no  more  to  do  with  it," 


282  JOHN"   AXDROSS. 

turning  away  and  coming  up  to  Jack,  while  Voss  went 
out,  feeling  as  if  lie  had  hardly  clinched  the  bargain 
securely  after  all. 

"Mr.  Andross,"  said  Laird  aloud  and  formally,  "you 
have  obliged  me  greatly ;  so  greatly  that  I  wish  you  to 
understand  that  this  is  the  last  favour  I  shall  ever  ask 
at  your  hands.  The  burden  of  obligation  is  hereafter  on 
my  side.  I  will  make  a  pact  of  friendship  with  you,  if 
you  wish,"  smiling  pleasantly.  The  smile  faded  when 
he  met  Jack's  eye.  The  poor  fellow,  he  felt,  had  been 
driven  now  a  step  too  far ;  he  was  dangerous. 

' ( I  do  not  wish  it,"  said  Andross  in  a  low  tone.  "  I 
only  want  to  know  that  we  are  done  with  each  other. 
I've  paid  the  price  of  your  secrecy.  You  will  not  play 
this  game  again  on  me  ?  " 

"No,  110,"  earnestly.  "Take  your  own  road  now. 
I'll  do  all  I  can  to  make  it  successful.  I  wish  you  could 
understand,  Andross.  It  was  very  unpleasant  for  me  to 
push  you  so  far.  But  there's  an  enormous  amount  in 
volved.  You've  no  idea  —  " 

"Successful!"  said  the  judge,  who  had  caught  a 
word  and  was  anxious  to  make  the  best  now  of  Anna's 
bargain.  "Oh,  there's  no  doubt  of  Jack's  success  now. 
The  party  will  refuse  you  nothing  after  you've  settled 
this  Transit  matter." 

Anna  gathered  herself  up  weakly  from  the  sofa. 
"Jack,  will  you  look  for  my  slipper?  I've  lost  it," 
thrusting  out  the  point  of  one  tiny  foot  in  rose-coloured 
stocking.  "  Let  us  go  back,"  she  whispered,  as  he  knelt 
to  put  it  on.  "You've  made  an  end  of  this  business 
here,  haven't  you  ?  " 

"Yes,  it's  ended,"  rising. 

"  Well,  then  ! "  sharply.  "  Don't  look  so  haggard  and 
ghastly  about  it !  That  Mr.  Voss  is  the  only  cheerful 
man  in  the  party.  What  a  lovely  emerald  pin  he  had  !  I 
do  love  emeralds !" 


JOHtf  AOTROSS.  283 

"Do  you?  Jack  will  hang  jewels  all  over  you,  Puss, 
no  doubt/'  said  her  father.  "He'll  be  a  luxurious,  in 
dulgent  fellow  for  a  husband  ! " 

Jack  smiled,  as  the  judge  meant  he  should.  "You 
should  only  wear  pearls,"  he  said,  looking  down  fondly 
into  her  eyes.  The  poor  little  woman,  how  could  she 
know  the  price  he  had  paid  for  her  ?  Why  should  she 
not  chatter  about  emeralds?  He  heard  her  chattering 
still  as  they  crossed  the  hall,  but  did  not  understand  her. 
That  Jack  Andross  that  he  was  yesterday — how  far  off  he 
was — dead  and  gone !  All  that  scraping  and  saving  of 
dollars  to  pay  Maddox  :  what  folly  that  had  been  !  And 
that  incessant  old-fashioned  talk'of  honesty  and  serving 
Christ,  which  his  mother  had  harped  on  perpetually 
—that  was  folly  too  !  There  was  nothing  in  it  when  you 
looked  at  it.  If  he  was  elected  again,  and  could  buy  a  ' 
house  for  Anna,  and  fill  it  with  rare  furniture  and  old 

china :  could  dress  her  as  she  should  be  dressed that 

was  all  there  was  real  for  him  in  life,  after  all ;  just  as 
with  Laird  and  the  others — it  was  a  struggle  with  all 
of  them  for  emeralds,  or  houses,  or  stocks. 

In  the  hall  they  passed  a  gray,  venerable,  old  man,  a 
judge  of  the  criminal  court,  with  two  or  three  young 
lawyers,  all  from  Philadelphia.  They  bowed  deferentially 
to  Andross,  the  judge  shaking  hands  cordially  with  him. 
"I  hear,  Mr.  Andross,  you  are  going  to  support  my 
friend,  Mr.  Laird,  when  his  bill  comes  up  this  afternoon. 
The  party  will  not  forget  it,"  meaningly,  bowing  again 
low  to  Anna. 

"That  is  a  member  of  the  Christian  church,  and  he 
knows  that  I  was  bought  like  any  other  chattel,"  said 
Andross  quietly  when  they  had  reached  the  room,  whereat 
Anna  began  to  cry. 

"It  is  impious  in  you  to  talk  that  way  of  Christians 
and  religion,  and  I  don't  choose  you  to  do  it,"  she 
sobbed. 


284  JOHX   ANDROSS. 

The  Christian  religion,  just  then,  seemed  worth  as 
much  to  Jack;  as  the  traditions  of  the  Parsees. 

"I  want  to  be  alone,  anyhow,"  she  said  when  he  did 
not  reply.  "I  shall  go  to  my  own  room  for  an  hour  or 
two."  She  lingered,  the  knob  of  the  door  in  her  hand, 
waiting  to  be  coaxed,  but  he  made  no  effort  to  detain  her. 

"  I  will  wait  here  for  you,"  he  said  dully. 

"But  if  the  bill  comes  up  —  ?"  anxiously.  'Your 
vote,  you  know  ?  " 

"  They  will  take  care  to  find  me,"  with  a  shrug. 

Anna  hurried  into  her  chamber,  and  when  she  had 
shut  the  door,  burst  into  an  uncontrollable  hysterical 
spasm  of  weeping,  throwing  herself  upon  the  bed.  Her 
suffering  was  unmistakably  intense,  and  real. 

" If s  too  late!"  she  cried.  "No  emeralds,  no  pearls 
for  me  !  Oh  !  Never,  never  ! " 


CHAPTEE       XXXII. 

ME.  VOSS  did  not  go  farther  from  the  hotel  than  to 
the  telegraph  office,  where  he  sent  a  laconic  mes 
sage  to  Jabez  Wilkins,  at  his  residence  in  Green^  street, 
Philadelphia,  signing  it  by  another  name  than  his  own, 
and  then  returning  to  his  boarding-house,  to  tranquilly 
await  the  result. 

The  message,  received  by  Mr.  Wilkins  about  noon,  was 
at  once  carried  by  him  to  one  or  two  other  distillers  who 
had  formed  "a  ring  under  the  Eing,"  which,  as  they 
said,  "meant  not  talk  but  biz." 

"Voss  tells  us  to  send  the  party  to  him.  He  won't 
show  in  Philadelphia,  and  he's  about  right  on  that," 
Wilkins  explained  to  his  colleagues,  who  were  more  thick 
headed  than  himself.  "The  party  must  be^old  Latimer 
first  then :  Bowyer  '11  not  budge  from  this  town  any 
more  than  a  hound  when  the  slot's  gone  into  a  hole." 

After  further  discussion,  though  the  words  were  few 
and  to  the  point — for  Wilkins  was  clear-sighted  and  a 
man  of  action — a  plan  was  determined  upon,  which  was 
to  pay  the  tax  imposed  by  Bowyer  within  an  hour,  when 
the  colonel  would  be  relieved  from  any  duty  of  watchful- 


A^DROSS.  286 

ness  ;  and  then,  as  Wilkins  explained,  "to  summon  him 
to  Mttany  immediately  by  a  bogus  message.  The  old 
patriarch  can  be  fooled  by  a  child.  Barry,  as  he  don't 
know  you,  you  can  run  up  with  him  on  the  train  to  Har- 
risburgh  and  give  Voss  his  instructions,  to  go  on  with 
him  to  Lock  Haven.  Let  Voss  manage  the  rest  himself." 

"You've  not There's  no  intention  of   inflicting 

any  permanent  injury  on  the  old  man,  Wilkins  ?"  asked 
Job  Follet,  the  youngest  of  the  party. 

"Why,  certainly  not.  Do  you  think  we  are  brutes  ? 
Only  a  sufficiently  severe  lesson  to  teach  him  to"  attend 
to  his  own  business,  and  keep  from  meddling;  that's  all." 

"  Permanent  injury  ?  Of  course  not,"  repeated  Barry, 
shaking  his  head  emphatically.  "But  the  bogus  mes 
sage,  Wilkins  ?  " 

"  I  can  manage  that.  I've  got  the  run  of  the  colonel's 
antecedents  pretty  thoroughly.  He's  a  Virginian,  with 
cousins  by  the  score.  Pll  draw  on  his  family  affection. 
Let  me  alone.  I'll  manage  it.  Do  you  be  ready  at  the 
depot,  Barry,  to  go  aboard  whatever  train  he  takes,  and 
keep  him  in  sight  until  Voss  has  him  in  charge.  Follet, 
take  this  check  up  to  that  thief  Bowyer.  It's  the  last." 

"'Voss  is  not  as  large  a  man  as  the  colonel,"  said  Barry, 
in  an  undertone,  when  the  door  closed  behind  Follet. 

"I've  seen  Latimer.  He's  a  rheumatic  old  rackle  of 
bones,"  grunted  Wilkins,  "and  Voss  has  the  muscles  of 
an  ox.  Besides,  he'll  be  well  armed.  Sam  Voss  is  not 
going  to  risk  anything  to  a  hand  to  hand  fight,  when  a 
pistol  will  do  the  job  better.  He  knows  his  business." 

"Yes,  I  suppose  so,"  said  Barry,  uneasily. 

By  one  o'clock,  Follet  tapped  at  the  door  of  Colonel 
Latimer's  private  office,  and  came  up  to  the  square  open 
ing  in  the  railing,  behind  which  the  old  gentleman  sat  at 
his  desk  poring  over  his  inscrutable  accounts,  while  Bow 
yer,  newspaper  in  hand,  kept  watch  and  ward  over  him. 

Follet,  a  smug,  light-haired  little  Irishman,  laid  down 
the  check  on  the  desk.  "  For  the  distilleries  named  in 
this  list.  Monthly  accounts  of  taxes,  paid  up  to  date,"  he 
said,  scrutinizing  the  old  colonel  eagerly. 

Colonel  Latimer  threw  down  his  pen,  and  rubbed  his 
spectacles  clear,  before  examining  the  check,  with  an  as- 


286  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

sumption  of   great  keenness.      "Ah — h:    quite    right, 
Mr.  ?" 

"Follet,  sir." 

"Mr.  Follet.  Here,  Bowyer,"  with  a  triumphant  nod, 
and  muttering,  "I  told  you  Laird  would  make  his  men 
deal  fairly.  Your  receipts,  Mr.  Follet. " 

V  That  makes  us  square,  I  believe  ?  "  said  Follet,  hesi 
tatingly,  as  he  took  them.  He  had  a  morbid  curiosity 
about  the  man  on  whom  Wilkins  and  the  rest  were  going 
to  let  slip  their  dogs  before  night.  A  soldierly  looking 
old  chap,  he  thought,  eyeing  the  colonel's  ungainly  lean 
length  of  build  :  if  he  were  to  be  at  the  fight,  he'd  take 
the  old  man's  part,  he  believed,  though  he  was  running 
the  distilleries  down  to  blue  ruin. 

"Yes,  that  is  all  right!"  said  Latimer,  cheerfully. 
"  I'm  very  glad  " — stopping  to  dip  his  pen  in  his  ink  once 
or  twice,  not  being  sure  how  far  he  ought  to  be  civil  to  sr.ch 
scoundrels,  and  changing  his  cordial  tone  to  one  of  grave 
dignity.  "I  am  pleased  that  you  have  perceived  hew 
much  more  advisable  it  is  to  conduct  this  business  in  a 
legitimate  and  open  way.  Because,  sir,  the  law  will  have 
its  course.  The  authorities  are  aroused,  and  are  deter 
mined  to  enforce  honesty  and  justice  in  small  matters  as 
in  great.  They  will  speedily  put  an  end  to  all  under 
handed  dealings,  Mr.  Follet." 

^  I  am  rejoiced  to  hear  it,  Colonel,"  said  Follet,  coolly, 
putting  his  receipts  smoothly  in  his  pocket-book.  "And 
so  should  you  be,  I  am  sure.  Good  morning,"  stopping 
at  the  door  for  another  quick,  grave  inspection  of  the 
colonel. 

"A  very  agreeable,  shrewd  young  fellow,  apparently, 
Bowyer.  Who  is  he?" 

"One  of  the  gang." 

"  I  was  a  little  uncivil,  Fm  afraid,  eh  ?  The  man  came 
to  deal  honestly,  and  it  was  no  time  to  read  him  a  moral 
lecture.  Well,  there's  no  need  for  a  raid  on  them  to 
night,  you  see  ?" 

"No,  I  suppose  not,"  gruffly. 

"The  men  always  meant  to  pay.  No  doubt  of  it; 
might  have  been  a  little  hard  pressed  for  a  few  days.  But 
Houston  Laird's  an  honourable  man.  I  told  you  it  would 
come  out  all  right.  You  don't  know  him,  Bowyer  ;  and 


JOHIs"   AJSTDROSS.  587 

you're  apt,  do  you  know,  to  be  a  little  censorious  ?  You 
ought  to  guard  against  that.  I  ought  to  guard  against  it 
myself ;  in  fact,  I'm  apt  to  judge  human  nature  pretty 
sharply,  I  tell  you.  But  then  I'm  an  older  man  than 
you,  and  have  had  more  experience  of  the  world." 

"Yes.  I  think  I  have  retained  the  ingenuousness  of 
my  youth,  Colonel,"  said  Bowyer,  gravely. 

"Then  you're  convinced  these  men  are  going  to  deal 
fairly,  now?"  anxiously. 

"  I  don't  know  how  they  are  going  to  deal,"  angrily. 
"They're  a  trick  ahead  of  me  this  time." 

The  postman  came  in  at  the  moment.  Now,  just  around 
the  corner,  the  postman  had  met  a  boy  running  breath 
less  to  intercept  him  with  a  letter,  which  he  had  left  by 
mistake  the  day  before  at  the  wrong  house.  Such  ac 
cidents  had  happened  to  him  before.  He  glanced  at  the 
letter,  in  a  yellow  envelope,  directed  to  Colonel  Thomas 
M.  Latimer,  Collector,  etc.,  and  with  the  written  post 
mark  of  some  obscure  country  village — Nittany  Hall, 
Centre  county.  He  thrust  it  into  the  bundle  of  the 
colonel's  letters,  and  laid  them  a  moment  after  on  his 
desk,  not  thinking  it  necessary  to  make  any  explanation 
of  so  trifling  a  mistake. 

In  a  few  moments  Bowyer  was  startled  by  the  colonel's 
loud  "Tut,  tut !"  followed  by  the  slamming  of  his  ledg 
ers  and  locking  of  his  drawers. 

"What  is  wrong,  sir?" 

"  Oh,  the  deuce  to  pay  up  in  Nittany  !  Hale  Latimer, 
a  cousin  of  mine,  is  up  there,  ill — worse  than  he  says,  I 
suspect.  He  thought  I  was  there  still,  and  went  up  from 
New  York  to  finish  out  the  winter,  and  stayed  at  old 
Van  Meter's,  hunting  on  the  range.  Now  he  has  pneu 
monia.  Just  like  him,  to  go  there  without  knowing 
where  I  was.  The  most  unpractical,  head-over-heels  fel 
low  !  The  other  branch  of  the  Latimers  are  all  just  that 
sort  of  people.  Here,  Dick  !" 

"May  I  ask  what  you  propose  to  do,  Colonel?"  said 
Bowyer. 

"  Do  ?  Why,  go  to  Hale  at  once,"  scribbling  a  hasty 
note  as  he  spoke.  "Take  this  note  up  to  Miss  Latimer, 
Dick,  with  this  letter.  Tell  her  I'll  be  back  to-morrow 
evening  with  my  cousin,  if  he  is  able  to  travel.  I  forgot 


288  JOHK   ANDROS3. 

to  mention  that."  He  was  buckling  on  his  overshoes 
and  his  old  military  cloak,  twisting  them  all  awry  in 
his  haste.  "I'll  just  be  in  time  to  catch  the  up  train. 
Lucky  those  fellows  paid  their  taxes,  or  I  should  have 
had  to  stay  to  fight  it  out — with  the  gangers  at  my 
back  !  Confound  it,  Bowyer,  I  didn't  like  that !  Where 
the  deuce  is  this  cape  ?  Well,  I'm  off  now." 

"Had  you  not  better  take  Miss  Latimer  with  you, 
Colonel?" 

"Such  weather  as  this?  I  have  to  ride  from  Lock 
Haven  across  the  hills  on  horseback.  Besides,  Miss  Mor- 

fan  would  load  me  with  baggage,  if  I  went  near  the 
ouse  :  dry  socks  and  mustard  plasters  and  a  portable  bed 
for  Hale,  very  likely — no,  no.  Always  keep  clear  of 
women  if  you  want  to  attend  to  business  properly,  Bow- 
yer." 

Bowyer  walked  with  the  colonel  to  the  depot.  He 
thought  it  best  to  see  him  safely  out  of  town,  not  know 
ing  what  the  game  of  Wilkins  and  his  men  might  be. 
Laird  might  have  interfered,  as  Latimer  said.  But 
nothing  could  be  luckier  than  this  sudden  summons  of 
the  colonel  out  of  town. 

"How  do  you  propose  to  carry  a  man  ill  with  pneu 
monia  across  the  hills  on  horseback,  Colonel  ? "  asked 
Bowyer  as  they  waited  for  the  train  to  start. 

The  colonel  glared  at  him  for  a  moment.  "That's 
just  like  a  woman,  to  raise  feeble  difficulties.  I'll  find 
the  way,  sir.  You'd  have  me  leave  Hale  there  to  die, 
would  you  ?  Of  all  men  he's  the  least  fit  to  take  care  of 
himself  :  the  most  headlong " 

At  that  moment  the  bell  rang,  and  the  colonel  jumped 
aboard.  Bowyer,  seeing  his  gray  head  disappear  in  the 
car  as-  it  moved  off,  sauntered  across  the  bridge  again 
with  a  long-drawn  breath  of  relief.  •  Mr.  Barry,  unseen 
by  him,  had  entered  the  other  end  of  the  train,  and  be 
fore  Bowyer  had  reached  the  office,  was  seated  by  the 
colonel  exchanging  vehement  opinions  with  him  on  the 
corruption  in  their  own  party,  and  the  urgent  need  of 
the  Citizens'  Eeform.  A  more  intelligent  man,  or  one 
more  awake  to  the  needs  of  the  hour,  the  colonel  thought, 
he  had  never  met. 


JOHJsT   AKDROS3.  289 

Dick  made  unusual  haste  with  his  message,  as  it  was 
to  Miss  Latimer,  who  had  been  kind  to  the  boy.  He 
lingered  after  it  was  sent  in,,  in  the  hope  of  being  sent 
for,  and  when  Oth  summoned  him,  hurried  in. 

Miss  Latimer  was  standing  in  the  middle  of  the  floor, 
the  open  letter  in  her  hand.  She  had  a  stupid,  terrified 
look  in  her  gray  eyes,  which  enlisted  even  the  boy  Dick 
as  an  instant  champion. 

"  Colonel  Latimer  says  he  is  going  to  my  cousin  Hale. 
This  letter  is  not  from  my  cousin  Hale." 

"I  don't  know  about  that,  ma'am.  The  colonel  is 
certainly  gone  to  the  mountains.  By  the  1 : 20  train. 
He's  off  now,"  glancing  medifatively  at  the  clock,  "some 
fif — teen  minutes." 

"Did  Mr.  Bowyer  know  he  was  going  ?" 

f '  He  'companied  him  to  the  depot.  So  it  must  be  all 
right.  Mr.  Bowyer's  sharp,  I  tell  you  now,"  in  a  consola 
tory  tone. 

Isabel  turned  the  letter  over  again — held  it  to  the  light. 
She  had  not  seen  Hale  Latimer's  writing  for  years,  but  as 
with  most  slow  people  her  memory  never  failed  her.  This 
was  a  forgery.  Her  father  had  been  decoyed  out  of  town 
by  a  trick,  and  Bowyer  had  beefi  tricked  with  him. 

When  she  turned  toward  Dick,  the  lad  jumped  from 
his  seat.  "  What  has  happened,  Miss  Latimer  ?  I'll  run 
for  Mr.  Bowyer." 

"  Stop ;  there  will  be  no  time.  When  does  the  next 
train  go  to  Harrisburgh  ?  " 

"  In  half  an  hour.     The  Pittsburgh  express 

"  Bring  a  carriage  and  I  can  reach  it." 

Dick  ran  like  the  wind,  and  seated  by  the  driver, 
speedily  brought  the  hack  rattling  up  "the  street.  Isabel 
was  standing  in  the  door,  Miss  Morgan  wrapping  her 
fur  mantle  about  her.  "If  I  knew  where  you  were  go 
ing  !  If  you  would  only  let  me  go  with  you,  Isabel,"  she 
cried  again  and  again. 

But  Isabel  heard  and  saw  nothing.  An  animal  on  the 
track  of  the  hunter  who  had  carried  off  her  young  could 
not  be  more  deaf  and  blind  to  all  on  either  side  of  her. 

People  hurrying  past  her  to  go  into  the  train  as  she 
crossed  the  depot,  paused  to  look  back  at  the  girlish  face, 
with  its  unnatural  pallor,  and  the  stern-set  gray  eyes. 


290  JOHN  ANDKOSS. 

Not  a  handsome  face,  but  very  like  to  old  Tom  Latimer's 
when  he  was  going  into  battle. 

For  the  first  time  in  her  life  the  full  power  of  the 
woman  was  awake  and  in  action.  She  meant  to  save  her 
father.  God  only  knew  how.  But  he  was  all  she  had. 

" Shall  I  tell  Mr.  Bowyer  to  follow  you?"  said  Dick 
breathlessly,  waiting  by  her  seat,  although  the  train  was 
in  motion. 

"He  will  know  what  to  do.  Tell  him  that  the  letter 
was  a  forgery,  and  that  I  have  gone  to  my  father.  I 
have  a  friend  in  Harrisburgh,  who  will  help  me,  John 
Andross. " 

But  Bowyer  had  left  the  office  when  Dick  returned, 
and  it  was  not  Until  ten  o'clock  that  night  that  the  boy 
succeeded  in  finding  him,  and  delivering  the  message. 
Bowyer  received  it  in  absolute  silence  and  without  the 
change  of  a  feature.  Then  he  drew  out  his  watch,  and 
looked  at  it. 

"A  telegram  tathe  police  at  Lock  Haven  an  hour  ago," 
he  thought,  "  would  have  been  enough.  But  it's  too  late 
now.  They've  dealt  with  the  old  man  by  this  time." 

He  went  down  the  street,  looking  about  him  as  though 
stunned. 

"Tricked  Nick  Bowyer,  eh?"  he  said.  "Tricked 
Nick  Bowyer?" 

His  vengeance,  he  knew,  would  be  sudden  and  swift. 
But  of  what  avail  was  vengeance  ? 


CHAPTER    XXXIII. 

TF  Andross  was  troubled  by  remorse  or  despair  when 
-*-  Anna  left  him  to  take  measure  of  himself,  such  un 
wholesome  megrims  were  suffered  to  haunt  him  but  for 
an  hour  or  two.  Whatever  might  have  been  her  private 
grief,  that  heroine  (after  a  nap  and  lunch),  returned  to 
her  task  with  the  zeal  of  a  soubrette  actress,  about  to 
play  for  the  first  time  a  leading  part.  She  had  no  lack  of 
assistance.  The  issues  dependent  on  the  final  action  that 
day  of  this  impulsive  young  man,  were  too  great  for  him 
to  be  trusted  to  the  manipulation  of  any  woman.  Every 


JOHN   AKDROSS.  291 

advocate  of  the  bill  was  ready  to  join  with  her  in  fooling 
him  to  the  top  of  his  bent.  It  was  not  known  precisely 
how  his  vote  had  been  bought,  but  the  coarsest  lobbyist 
understood  that  it  had  not  been  a  matter  of  dollars  and 
cents,  as  with  McElroy.  It  was  expedient,  too,  that  An- 
dross  should  be  kept  out  of  reach  of  the  opposition,  which 
was  led  by  Hetherington,  and  included  every  man  of  hon 
esty  and  integrity  in  both  houses.  Jack,  who,  as  Laird's 
tool,  had  on  his  election  been  received  with  suspicion  by 
these  men,  had  slowly  won  for  himself  a  place  among 
them.  The  report  of  his  defection  yesterday  had  been 
received  by  them  at  first  with  an  indignant  denial,  and 
then  with  an  amazement  and  anger  with  which  their  lik 
ing  for  Jack  had  almost  as  much  to  do  as  their  interest 
in  the  bill. 

"Andross,"  said  the  leader  (a  gray-headed  old  cham 
pion  of  unpopular  honesty  for  years  in  Harrisburgh), 
"  Andross  was  tricked  into  this,  not  bought.  There  are 
some  men  who  have  not  a  price,  and  that  lad  is  one  of 
them.  If  I  could  talk  with  him  for  five  minutes,  Fd  set 
the  matter  straight." 

But  Laird's  plans  were  too  well  laid ;  neither  Hether 
ington  nor  any  of  his  followers  could  gain  the  five 
minutes.  The  state  dinner  was  given  up,  and  Anna, 
with  Andross,  spent  the  short  winter  afternoon  at  the 
house  of  a  woman  whose  whole  fortune  was  risked  in 
Transit  stock.  There  was  no  more  talk  of  stock  or  bills 
in  the  house  than  if  they  had  been  encamped  in  Arcadia. 
There  were  rare  engravings,  natural  flowers,  a  few  men 
and  women,  well-bred,  gentle,  and  witty,  whose  lives 
seemed  to  have  been  spent  in  the  pleasant  places  of  the 
world,  and  who  had  come  to  idle  away  an  afternoon  here  / 
together  as  the  pleasantest  of  all ;  there  was  a  dainty 
lunch,  with  an  incessant  flowing  of  champagne.  Jack, 
who  came  among  them,  haggard  and  silent,  could  not 
but  be  touched  and  pleased,  at  first,  by  the  delicate  hom 
age  which  Anna  received.  That  too  often  garrulous 
child  had  learned,  since  she  came  to  town,  when  wisely 

\  to  be  silent,  and  took  the  role  now  of  a  lovely  listener. 

!  Jack  knew  these  cultured  men  and  women  could  properly 
recognize  her  rare  beauty  and  innocence,  which  he  could 
not  bear  the  common  herd  should  look  upon,  and  was 


292  JOHX   ANDROSS. 

satisfied  that  they  should  appreciate  her,  and  glowed  with 
delight  at  being  able  to  claim  her  as  his  own.  He  was 
referred  to,  constantly,  also  as  an  authority  in  some  dis 
puted  points  in  the  matter  of  engraving,  and  grew  inter 
ested  in  explaining  them,  and  then  he  sat  down  with  one 
or  two  of  the  pictures  before  him,  whose  feeling  had 
touched  him  nearly.  Whatever  sharp  pain  he  had  felt 
had  dulled  down  into  a  vague  melancholy. 

"  Stay,  Anna,"  holding  her  rose-coloured  drapery  when 
she  would  have  left  him.  She  would  so  much  rather 
have  gone  to  the  fire  where  those  gentlemen  were ;  but 
the  bill— the  bill !  She  would  not,  however,  have  long 
to  sit  stupidly  watching  his  pale,  grave  face  bent  over  a 
lot  of  yellow  prints.  The  clock  was  on  the  stroke  of 
four  :  she  had  just  heard  a  whispered  message  sent  from 
Laird  that  the  bill  had  passed  to  its  third  reading,  and  the 
Ayes  and  Noes  were  about  to  be  called.  Andross  might 
be  summoned  any  moment. 

Meanwhile,  the  snow  outside  fell  tranquilly ;  some  one 
in  the  next  room,  with  a  voice  full  of  power,  was  softly 
singing  a  ballad  of  Schubert's.  The  music  lifted  his 
mood  unconsciously.  He  had  no  especial  thought  of 
Yosses  or  Lairds  or  vile  sales  of  a  man's  honour ;  it  was 
the  world— life  itself— which  was  full  of  an  infinite  sad 
ness  and  longing ! 

There  were  some  prints  of  the  antique  statues  beiore 
him.  "There  is  the  same  meaning  in  this  Psyche's  face," 
he  said  to  Anna,  as  though  thinking  aloud,  "-as  in  the 
song  It  tries  to  tell  us  that  it  has  found  nothing  better 
—nothing  higher  in  the  world  than  material  beauty, 
was  quite  right  in  the  old  Greaks  to  give  to  the  faces  ot 
their  gods  of  Beauty  and  Strength,  a  certain  sense  of 
loss_of  a  something  beyond  themselves,  never  to  be  at 
tained.  I  suppose  men  in  the  days  of  Phidias,  just  as 
now,  grasped  and  groped  for  a  virtue,  or  religion,  or  a 
God  which  they  never  reached,  and  had  to  be  contented 
with  poorer  things  which  they  could  see  and  handle." 

"I  don't  know  anything  about   Phidias,  I'm   sure, 
i   pushing  the  print  away.     "I  think  those  nude  figures 
1    are  very  immodest." 

"  I  did  not  notice  that  it  was"hude.' 

The  simple,  noble  faces  might  have  a  sense  of 


JOHN   AtfDROSS.  293 

them,  but  they  were  expressions  of  the  highest  thought 
of  a  nation  whose  thought  and  action  moved  on  high 
levels  :  they  could  not  fail  to  quicken  for  the  moment  the 
man's  sensitive  nature,  to  ennoble  in  his  fancy  the  mean 
est  things  he  looked  on.  The  electric  fire  of  that  ancient 
time  and  people  kindled  answering,  latent  heats  in  him 
self. 

If  it  was  pain  or  a  sense  of  loss,  it  was  a  keener  enjoy 
ment  than  any  other  man's  pleasure.     Yet  Andross  could 
not  have  told  in  words  what  it  was  he  enjoyed.     He 
leaned  against  the  window-frame,  looking  now  at  the  red 
in  the  sunset  sky,  burning  behind  the  snow,  now  into 
the  heart  of  a  crimson  rose  which  was  growing  beside 
him ;  the  music,  lofty  now  and  soaring,  seemed  to  engross 
all  life  and  feeling.     Yonder  across  the  sea  those  wonder 
ful  statues  carried  their  white  beauty  from  age  to  age : 
from  day  to  day  the  red  burned  in  the  sky ;  the  roses 
bloomed  each  year  the  same ;  the  wind  that  blew  on  his 
face  had  swept  since  the  days  of  creation  oq.  its  given 
path  ;  music  incessantly  over  the  world  told  its  mysterious^ 
messages.     It  was  one  of  those  moments  in  Andross's  life  f 
when  a  sudden  perception  of  the  inexhaustible  beauty  | 
and  strength  of  the  material  world  about  him  seized  and  |l 
rapt  him  and  held  him  dumb.  * 

What  did  he  or  any  man  count  for  in  this  vast  whelm 
ing  force  and  life  ?  If  he  voted  Aye  or  No  for  the  Tran 
sit  bill,  or  if  Voss  pummelled  his  fellow  bullies,  would 
the  sun  burn  less  red,  or  the  winds  alter  their  awful 
courses  ? 

Anna  observed  that  his  cheeks  were  heated  and  his 
eyes  dim  with  tears.  "  I  never  knew  a  man  so  easily  af 
fected  by  music,"  she  said,  thinking  it  was  no  wonder 
Jack  was  turned  to  this  side  and  to  that  by  any  men  who 
chose  to  play  battle-door  with  him.  "/think  that  voice 
is  too  flat.  Mr.  Ware  has  taught  me  a  great  deal  about 
music  this  winter." 

Their  hostess,  Mrs.  Norris,  who  had  shrewder  eyes 
than  Anna,  came  to  lead  her  away  to  the  lunch-table. 
"You  have  not  tasted  any  champagne,  Mr.  Andross?" 
chirped  Anna,  who  had  a  fervid  conviction  there  was  no 
sure  hold  on  any  man  but  liquor. 

"  That  is  not  one  of  his  tastes,  I  am  sure,"  said  Mrs. 


294  JOHIT  A^STDROSS. 

Norris,  hurrying  her  away.  She  looked  at  him  atten 
tively  over  Anna's  shoulder,  as  she  stood  heaping  the  young 
lady's  plate  with  cake  and  sweetmeats.  "No,  wine 
would  not  touch  him,"  she  repeated.  "You  are  his 
coarsest  temptation,  I  suspect,"  with  a  bow  and  smile 
which  converted  the  words  into  a  compliment.  But  she 
felt  a  disgust  at  herself,  remembering  that  the  wine  had 
been  provided  especially,  for  Andross.  This  man  was  not 
the  sensuous  fellow  whom  Laird  had  described  to  her ; 
her  heart  warmed  to  him:  she  wondered  if  he  had  a 
mother  living.  Long  afterwards,  when-  Andross's  career 
was  spoken  of  before  her,  she  felt  the  same  twinge  of  self- 
contempt,  remembering  how  she,  on  this  last  day,  had 
helped  him  to  his  undoing. 

The  gentlemen  were  beginning  to  cluster  gaily  about 
Anna  at  the  lunch-table,  when  a  slight  stir  was  heard 
without,  and  the  jangling  of  sleigh-bells  halted  suddenly. 

"Is  it  so  late?"  said  Mrs.  Norris  nervously. 

"  They  will  reach  his  name  in  twenty  minutes,"  whis 
pered  one  of  the  men. 

"It  is  a  message  for  me,  I  suppose,"  said  Andross, 
corning  forward  with  a  curious  change  of  countenance. 
"I  must  vote  on  a  certain  measure,  Mrs.  Norris;  you 
will  pardon  me  for  deserting  you  and  Miss  Maddox." 

"  Oh  !  But  we  are  all  going  with  you  !"  cried  Anna. 
"Everybody  is  anxious  about  the  bill;  most  of  these 
gentlemen  must  vote  on  it  too  ! " 

These  people,  with  whom  Jack  had  established  a  cer 
tain  Freemasonry,  ventured  to  show  now  their  grati 
tude  to  him.  These  men  regarded  the  bill  as  the  salva 
tion  of  the  state.  This  widow  would  be  penniless  with 
her  orphan  children  if  it  was  defeated.  Jack,  with  a 
secret  consciousness  that  he  was  being  duped,  could  not 
resist  the  pressure.  He  answered  the  men  cordially, 
listened  sympathetically  to  the  black-robed  stockholder, 
and  then  sprang  into  the  sleigh,  where  Anna  blushed 
and  beamed  on  him  out  of  white  furs  and  snowy  plumes. 
It  was  not  in  his  nature  to  forget,  as  he  dashed  through 
the  street,  this  creature  beside  him,  rosy  and  warm  as 
the  summer  dawn.  He  knew  the  crisis  of  his  life  was 
upon  him,  and  there  was  a  certain  exhilaration  in  the 
very  knowledge. 


JOHtf  ANDEOSS.  295 

"  As  for  the  bill — what  of  it  ?  "  he  said  in  a  loud  voice 
to  Anna.  "As  many  good  people  defend  as  oppose  it,  it 
seems  to  me."  Whistling  the  whole  matter  down  the 
wind  as  a  trifle,  he  lifted  her  from  the  sleigh  at  the  daor 
of  the  Capitol. 

The  red  heat  had  left  the  West.  The  evening  was 
ominously  gray  and  dreary.  But  the  old  many-win 
dowed  building  blazed  with  light ;  the  lobbies,  every  en 
trance  were  alive  with  excited,  eager  crowds.  He  passed 
through  the  Eotunda,  with  Anna  clinging  to  his  arm ; 
groups  of  men,  who  had  been  watching  for  him,  hurried 
before  them  into  the  Senate  chamber ;  he  remembered, 
with  a  boyish  thrill  of  excitement,  that  his  coming  would 
bring  chagrin  or  pleasure  to  every  man  in  the  house. 
But  he  had  no  mind  to  subject  Anna  to  the  view  of  the 
crowd. 

"I  shall  take  you  to  a  committee  room,  my  darling," 
he  whispered,  "and  send  your  father  to  you.  The  other 
house  has  crowded  into  the  Senate  chamber  to  hear  the 
vote  on  this  bill ;  there  is  a  great  deal  of  excited  feeling  ; 
it  is  no  place  for  you." 

"Don't  ask  me  to  leave  you,  Jack,"  pressing  closer  to 
his  side,  and  he,  smiling  tenderly  at  her  childish  devo 
tion,  led  her  to  a  seat  in  the  gallery  by  Mrs.  Norris,  and 
lingered  before  taking  his  place  on  the  floor.  Anna,  in 
deed,  detained  him  beside  her ;  each  moment  was  pre 
cious  to  her  in  which  she  could  be  seen  by  the  multitude 
beside  the  hero  of  the  hour ;  she  appeared  to  be  looking 
up  in  his  face  with  eager,  innocent  questions,  but  she  saw 
with  delight  the  eyes  of  the  whole  house  upon  him,  noted 
the  anger  and  scorn  of  the  opposition,  the  triumph  of  his 
own  party. 

The  clerk  was  slowly  calling  the  Yeas  and  Nays,  each 
member,  as  he  gave  his  vote,  choosing  to  state  his  in 
dividual  reasons  for  it,  more  for  the  benefit  of  his  far-off 
constituents  in  Philadelphia  or  Westmoreland  than  for 
the  anxious,  silent  crowds  about  him. 

Mr.  Laird,  in  the  impatience  of  his  now  certain  tri 
umph,  pushed  his  way  through  the  throng,  and  came  up 
to  Andross  in  the  gallery,  where  he  still  leaned  over 
Anna,  returning  the  salutations  of  those  who  looked  at 
him  with  a  flushed,  defiant  face.  He  stood  erect  when 


29(3  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

Laird  touched  him,  bowed  coldly,  and  walked  down  the 
aisle  to  his  place. 

"I  ought  not  to  have  come  near  him  just  now/'  said 
Laird  with  evident  chagrin.  "  It  was  ill-advised.  I  never 
shall  be  able  to  conquer  that  man's  antipathy  to  me." 

"What  does  that  matter?"  said  Anna,  who  could  not 
understand  why  so  rich  a  man  as  Laird  should  care  for 
the  good  opinion  of  any  penniless  fellow.  "Why  does 
the  opposition  make  no  effort,  Mr.  Laird?  They  do  not 
even  seem  to  listen  to  the  voting." 

"  All  they  have  to  do  is  to  bear  defeat  stoically.  It  is 
too  late  for  any  effort.  Every  man's  vote  has  been  can 
vassed  and  known  for  days.  Our  success  was  a  foregone 
conclusion  when  An  dross  came  over,  yesterday." 

"  They  do  not  try  to  influence  him.  See,  those  are  all 
members  of  your  party,  who  are  crowding  about  him." 

"  No  ;  he  is  safe  at  last,  thanks  to  you,  Miss  Maddox," 
lowering  his  voice.  "  Nothing  would  have  brought  An- 
dross  over  but  the  certainty  of  winning  you.  Your 
promise " 

"  Ah — h  !"  She  drew  her  breath  sharply  through  her 
teeth,  half  rising  and  looking  about  her  with  an  unmis 
takable  terror. 

"What  is  it?    Are  you  ill?" 

"No,  no,"  with  an  hysteric  giggle.  "It's  all  right. 
Jack's  vote  will  save  you,  and  papa's  property:  and  all. 
It's  all  right." 

Laird  .looked  down  at  her  through  his  cynical,  half-shut 
^yes,  but  made  no  answer.  The  girl  was  always  a  bore 
to  him.  Now,  too,  he  was  anxiously  watching  Andross's 
tall,  stately  figure,  about  which  Ned  Willitts  was  buzzing 
like  an  uneasy  fly.  He  saw  Jack  laugh  with  him  once 
or  twice,  and  his  countenance  cleared.  Ned  had  tact, 
and  Andross  liked  him. 

Willitts,  in  fact,  never  had  felt  sheer,  downright  envy 
until  now,  and  expressed  it  frankly. 

"  No  man  in  the  country  has  such  a  chance,  before  him 
as  you,  Mr.  Andross,"  he  said,  "  to  be  one  of  the  leaders 
of  the  most  powerful  moneyed  ring  in  the  East — at  your 

age It's  not  easy  for  a  hard-working  drudge  like  me 

to  laugh  at  the  sight.  Some  men  are  born  for  luck." 

"I  wish  to  Heaven  you  were  in  my  place,  Willitts !" 


^  AXDEOSS.  297 

But  he  was  not  quite  sure  that  he  wished  it.  Every 
face  in  the  massed  crowds  told  him  of  his  power ;  in  the 
future  he  saw  only  a  life  of  luxury  and  command;  of  burn 
ing  passion ;  of  tender  love  gratified.  It  was  early  in  life 
thus  to  reach  the  top  and  crown  of  things.  He  turned 
his  agitated,  glowing  face  to  Anna  across  the  great 

lighted  hall It  needed  but  to  stretch  out  his  hand 

to  grasp  the  marshal's  baton — SUCCESS. 

At  that  moment  a  page  touched  his  arm,  and  laid  a  slip 
of  paper  on  the  desk  before  him. 

He  rose  hastily. 

/'Where  are  you  going?"  cried  Willitts,  detaining 
him.  "  Your  name  will  be  called  in  a  few  minutes." 

"It  is  a  woman,  a  friend  of  mine,  who  is  in  great 
trouble.  "Where  is  she  ? "  to  the  boy. 

"In  the  first  committee  room." 

"But  your  vote for  Heaven's  sake,  consider,  An- 

dross!" 

"  I  shall  be  back  in  a  minute.  The  vote  is  safe.  Don't 
detain  me.  It  is  Miss  Latimer." 

The  next  moment  he  pushed  open  the  door  of  the 
room  where  Isabel  stood  waiting  for  him.  With  a 
woman,  or  any  one  who  suffered,  Jack  instantly  took  the 
place  of  adviser  and  helper  with  indescribable  tenderness 
and  quickness  of  insight.  He  gave  but  one  look  at  her 
face. 

"Whatever  the  trouble  is,  you  are  unnecessarily 
alarmed,"  he  said,  taking  her  hand  gravely,  without 
pausing  for  greeting.  "You  say  your  father  is  in  danger. 
Take  time  to  think,  and  then  give  -me  the  plain  facts — 
without  your  fears." 

He  was  not  alarmed.  The  colonel  had  no  doubt  gone 
headlong  into  some  difficulty,  and  Isabel,  practical  as  she 
I  was,  exaggerated  it,  according  to  the  manner  of  women. 

Isabel  looked  at  the  clock ;  there  was  only  an  hour  in 
which  to  do  her  work ;  she  paused,  choosing  her  words. 
'te  My  father  left  Philadelphia  for  Nittany,  tricked  by  a 
forged  letter.  He  is  now  one  hour  on  his  way  to  Lock 
Haven.  On  the  train  there  is  a  man  who  has  been  paid 
to  murder  him." 

"  Murder  ^  my  dear  Miss  Latimer !  You  are  terribly 
nervous  and  'tired.  Tell  me  what  the  colonel's  difficulty 


298  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

really  is.  But  murder  ?  We  don't  live  in  the  dark  ages, 
or  days  of  assassins,"  trying  not  to  smile. 

"My  father  has  made  enemies.  They  are  the  same 
men  who  paid  for  the  killing  of  John  Ford." 

The  smile  left  Andross's  face.  It  was  quite  true — 
there  had  been  such  a  wretched  business  last  winter. 
Ford  had  been  shot  by  the  order  of  the  Whiskey  Ring, 
and  when  the  actual  murderers  threatened  to  betray  their 
employers,  the  poor  wretches  had  both  been  killed,  and 
all  inquiry  hushed  speedily.  But  Colonel  Latimer 

"What  object  could  they  have  in  attacking  your 
father?" 

"A  plain  business  object ;  he  was  ruining  the  profits  of 
all  the  distilleries,  and  can  not  be  removed.  The  man 
who  threatened  him  was  a  distiller,  Wilkins ;  employed  by 
Houston  Laird." 

6 '  Wilkins  ?  Yes,  go  on. "  Andross  came  a  step  nearer, 
his  countenance  altering  strangely. 

"When  I  found  the  letter  was  a  forgery,  I  followed  my 
father  here.  I  was  but  an  hour  behind  him.  He  was 
alone  when  he  left  home.  The  station  master  here,  who 
knows  him,  tells  me  that  he  left  the  train  in  company 
with  a  distiller  named  Barry ;  that  Barry  was  in  close 
converse  with  a  man  who  was  waiting  for  him  at  the 
depot,  and  whom  he  introduced  to  the  colonel  as  a  friend 
who  was  going  up  deer  shooting  in  the  mountains  ;  and 
that  both  men  went  on  the  train  with  him  to  Lock 
Haven." 

Andross  was  silent.  Some  question  hung  on  his  lips 
which  he  dared  not  ask. 

"There  is  no  danger  for  my  father  on  the  train," 
speaking  in  the  same  monotonous,  unnatural  voice. 
"But  he  will  be  cordial  and  friendly  with  this  man. 
He  will  offer  to  ride  with  him  across  the  mountains — it 
will  be  night.  It  is  nearly  night  now,"  looking  wildly 
out  of  the  window. 

"What  manner  of  man  was  this  friend  of  Barry's  ?" 

"Short,  broadly-built,  light  haired." 

"  Did — did  the  station  master  hear  his  name  ?" 

In  all  her  own  agitation,  Isabel  was  startled  by  the 
sudden  ghastliness  of  the  man  before  her  as  he  asked  the 
question. 


JOH1T   AKDBOSS.  299 

"  He  knows  him.     His  name  is  Voss. " 

Andross  threw  up  his  hand,  and  turned  away  from  her. 
In  all  the  grief  or  pleasure  of  his  life  he  had  been  used 
to  give  vehement  expression  to  his  always  stormy  emo 
tions.  Now,  he  uttered  neither  word  nor  cry ;  yet  some 
thing  in  the  very  air  held  Isabel  dumb  and  motionless, 
awed  by  the  presence  of  a  more  terrible  pain  than  her 
own. 

"If  your  father  is  murdered,"  he  said,  with  unnatural 
quietness,  "it  is  not  Voss  who  has  done  it — it  is  I." 

"  I  do  not  know  what  you  can  mean.  But  you  will  go 
yrith  me  ?  I  was  sure  you  would  go  with  me  to  follow 
them/' 

"  Follow  them  ?    Is  there  time  ?  to  save  him  ?" 

"  The  train  will  not  leave  for  nearly  an  hour,"  speaking 
distinctly  and  slowly,  as  she  observed  his  vacant,  be 
wildered  look.  "We  may  not  be  in  time,  but  we  can 
follow  them.  Can  anything  be  done  here  ?" 

The  words  woke  him  as  from  a  stupor.  "  Something 
can  be  done — yes.  I  can  repair  my  mistake  here.  My 
whole  life  has  been  a  mistake.  Oh,  my  God  !  I  see  that 
now!" 

The  agony  of  this  strong,  cheerful  fellow  was  more 
than  Isabel  could  look  upon ;  she  felt  dully  that  he 
should  always  be  just  the  old  merry  Jack,  fun-loving,  af 
fectionate  ;  she  offered  no  sympathy  nor  comfort.  In 
his  pain  he  was  far  apart  from  her.  No  one  but  God 
could  help  him. 

She  turned  away  and  stood  quietly  by  the  fire.  It  was 
noticeable  that  in  this  hour  of  delay,  she  gave  no  sign  of 
impatience,  or  made  no  moan  to  intrude  her  suffering  on 
others. 

"You  will  wait  for  me  here,  Miss  Latimer?"  he  said 
at  last.  "  I  shall  not  detain  you  long  ;"  and  closing  the 
door  he  crossed  the  rotunda  again.  Willitts  met  him. 

"  Thank  Heaven  !  you're  here  !"  too  eager  and  excited 
to  observe  his  silence.  •" Hill,  when  he  voted  'no'  just 
now,  hinted  that  you  had  dodged  at  the  last  minute  !  It 
fairly  took  the  breath  from  our  people.  Hark  I" 

"John  Andross !" 

The  harsh,  nasal  voice  of  the  clerk  could  be  heard  out 
side  of  the  Senate  chamber. 


300  JOII^   ASTDROSS. 


Andross  shook  off  Willitts's  hold,  and  went  slowly  down 
the  middle  aisle  to  his  seat. 

"  The  honourable  member  from  Philadelphia/'  "drily 
interposed  a  member  (who  had  just  voted  with  the  oppo 
sition),  "  probably  requires  to  be  informed  that  the  bill 
now  before  the  house  is  for  the  relief  of  the  National 
Transit  Company,  in  which  he  is  said  to  be,  of  late, 
largely  interested.  The  question  is,  in  fact,  left  for  hinl 
to  decide  —  shall  it  pass  ?" 

"John  Andross  !"  called  the  clerk  again. 

"No." 

There  was  a  moment's  pause  of  amazement,  and  then  a 
burst  of  cheers  from  the  younger  members  of  the  opposi 
tion,  mingled  with  a  few  hisses  from  the  other  side. 

But  astonishment  soon  hushed  the  house.  Andross 
remained  standing,  waiting  for  silence.  As  soon  as  he 
could  be  heard  he  said,  in  a  low  voice,  '  '  I  shall  not  offer 
any  reason  for  the  vote  which  I  have  just  given.  But  I 
wish  it  recorded  as  my  last  public  act  while  a  member  of 
this  body.  I  tender  my  resignation  to  you,  Mr.  Speaker, 
from  the  Senate  of  Pennsylvania,  to  take  effect  from  this 
day.  I  resign,  because  —  "  he  stopped,  his  eyes  wand 
ering  uncertainly  from  face  to  face  ;  to  Jack  they  all 
seemed  friendly  faces-r-they  had  met  him  from  day  to 
day  with  kindliness,  and  jokes,  and  laughter  —  "because 
I  —  I  know  myself  unfit  to  hold  a  seat  longer  among  you." 

From  any  other  man  the  words  might  have  been  fol 
lowed  by  jeers  or  indifference.  Legislative  bodies  are 
suspicious  of  anything  that  savours  of  the  melodrama. 
But  Jack  Andross  was  known  to  every  man  there  ;  the 
terrible  sincerity  of  the  few  words  moved  them. 

"It  was  like  the  death  cry  of  a  woman,"  old  Hether- 
ington  said  afterwards. 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  absolute  silence  that  Andross 
walked,  alone  and  degraded,  out  of  the  chamber  which 
he  was  never  to  enter  again. 

Not  altogether  alone;  for  as  he  passed  through  the 
middle  aisle,  a  thin,  black-a-vised  man,  shabby  yet  prim 
as  to  clothes,  came  eagerly  down  to  meet  him  and,  taking 
his  arm,  went  out  with  him. 

"Was  this  necessary,  Jack?"  he  said  when  they  had 
reached  the  Rotunda. 


JOHK   AKDROSS.  301 

"Is  it  you,  Braddock  ? '  I  have  but  an  hour —  "  look 
ing  about  him  as  if  the  light  blinded  him.  Braddock, 
seeing  how  he  was  shaken,  asked  no  questions  after  that, 
but  followed  him  with  affectionate  zeal,  glowering  fiercely 
at  every  passer-by  who  looked  askance  at  Andross. 

It  was  so  like  Jack,  he  thought  angrily,  in  this  out 
break  of  remorse,  to  humiliate  himself  before  the  world  ! 
"Why  could  he  not  quietly  have  slipped  out  of  the  Senate  ? 

"Unfit  to  remain  with  them?"  A  gang  of  bribe 

givers  and  bribe  takers  !  He  followed  Andross  until  he 
pushed  open  the  door  of  the  committee  room.  The  gas 
burned  brightly  within.  The  room  seemed  crowded  to 
Andross,  as  he  stood  on  the  threshold.  Isabel  stood 
waiting.  Houston  Laird  was  there  and  the  members 
who  had  sat  in  caucus  night  after  night,  to  push  his  bill; 
Judge  Maddox  and,  nearest  of  all,  her  blue  reproachful 

eyes  fixed  on  his Anna.  The  blue  eyes,  perceiving 

Braddock  behind  him,  it  is  true,  wandered  occasionally ; 
but  Braddock,  although  he  had  come  to  Harrisburgh  in 
.the  desperate  hope  of  finding  comfort  with  Anna,  avoided 
her  now  and  drew  back  into  a  dark  corner,  out  of  sight. 

Judge  Maddox,  in  the  excess  of  his  wrath,  could 
scarcely  wait  for  Andross  to  enter  the  room. 

"It  is  hardly  worth  while  to  tell  you  that  you  have 
ruined  me,"  he  stammered. 

"  Mr.  Andross  has  a  right  to  vote  as  he  chooses,"  said 
one  of  the  members ;  "but  if  he  will  explain  why  he  de 
ceived  us  during  these  two  days " 

"Why  should  he  explain  ?"  hastily  interposed  Laird. 

"  Why  need  there  be  any  farther  recrimination  ?    I  came 

here  to  beg  there  should  be  none.     The  vote  is  given. 

'Mr.  Andross  has  resigned  his  seat.     There  shall  be  an 

end  of  it." 

"No.  I  have  a  word  to  say,"  said  Andross.  He  had 
come  up  to  the  square  table  and  stood  leaning  on  his 
knuckles,  facing  them,  the  light  full  on  his  pale,  bearded 
face.  There  was  silence  for  a  moment.  The  crowd 
about  him  were  so  many  shadows ;  he  saw  only  the 
woman  that  he  loved,  and  whom  he  was  going  to  pub 
away  from  him  forever. 

' '  I  am  sorry  if  I  have  caused  you  any  loss,"  turning 
dully  to  Maddox.  "I  ruined  myself  first  of  all.  I've 


302  JOHN   Als'DROSS. 

been  playing  a  sham  part  long  enough.  Fm  going  to 
end  it  now." 

"  You  are  going  to  act  like  a  rash,  headlong  Hotspur, 
as  usual,  Andross,"  said  Laird,  laying  his  hand  sooth 
ingly  on  his  shoulder ;  but  whether  prompted  by  kindness 
or  policy  he  could  not  himself  at  the  moment  have  told. 

"  When  I  was  a  boy,"  continued  Jack,  without  notic 
ing  him,  "I  learned  the  meanest  tricks  of  trade  and 
practised  them,  through  fear  of — of  a  man  who  held  a 
rod  over  me.  When  I  was  in  your  office,  Judge  Maddox, 
I  robbed  you  of  six  thousand  dollars  to  rid  myself  of 
him:  to-day  I  was  accessory  to  a  murder  to  buy  his 
silence  about  that  theft.  I  do  not  blame  him.  It  is  I 
who  have  been  the  thief  and  the  coward." 

"  Six  thousand  ?  I  never  missed  that  money  !"  stam 
mered  the  judge.  "  It's  very  remarkable  !" 

"Now,  gentlemen,"  said  Jack,  turning  to  the  men, 
"you  know  the  worst  of  me.  "I  need  buy  no  man's 
silence  henceforth.  I  always  thought  myself  a  strong 
man,"  his  chin  quivering,  "but  I've  been  weak — weak 
as  water." 

There  was  an  embarrassed  pause.  One  or  two  of  the 
legislators  went  quietly  out  of  the  door,  nodding  to  the 
others,  who,  after  a  moment's  hesitation,  followed  them 
without  a  word. 

Judge  Maddox  broke  the  silence.  It  was  the  time,  he 
felt,  to  adjust  all  matters  definitely  that  concerned  this 
young  man  in  the  future. 

"This  is  an  astounding  disclosure  to  me!  Truly 
astounding!"  after  a  preparatory  cough.  "You  can 
hardly  expect,  Mr.  Andross,  that  after  you  confess  your 
self  guilty  of  theft  (though  I  can't,  for  my  soul,  see  when 

that  six  thousand. )  guilty  of  theft,  as  I  say,  that  you 

should  retain  any  pretension  to  my  daughter's  hand." 

Andross  looked  at  her  in  silence ;  but  the  soft  blue 
eyes  went  wandering  to  the  ceiling,  the  floor,  everywhere 
but  his  face. 

"  I  do  not  expect  it,"  he  said  in  a  low  tone. 

"  Come,  my  daughter,  we  will  go  then,"  rising  and 
drawing  her  hand  into  his  arm. 

Andross  made  a  quick  step  between  the  pink-robed 
figure  and  the  door.  He  held  out  his  hands  ;  "Anna!" 


JOHN   ANDROSS.  303 

"What  is  it,  Jack?"  calmly. 

"  If  I  have  sinned,  it  was  for  you.  It  was  because  I 
loved  you  that  I  turned  my  back  on  my  God.  It  was  to  put 
away  all  obstacles  between  us  that  I  took  the  money; 
that  I  came  here  as  the  tool  of  the  King.  They  bought 
me  for  the  worst  purposes  to-day,  with  the  promise  that 
you  should  be  my  wife,  and  you  knew  it. " 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  knew  that,"  with  an  arch  little  nod. 

' ( I  never  deserved  you  as  I  do  to-night,  when  I  am 
ruined  and  disgraced.  I  have  left  myself  nothing  but 
you.  Can  you  give  me  up  ?  " 

"You  have  no  right  to  distress  my  daughter  in  this 
way,"  blustered  the  judge. 

But  Andross  only  held  out  his  hands  to"  her  with  the 
look  of  a  drowning  man  asking  for  help.  "Come  to  me. 
I  have  only  you.  And  I — I  loved  you  so  ! " 

" Don't  hold  my  arm,  papa,"  composedly.  "He  does 
not  distress  me  in  the  least.  I  can  not  marry  you,  Mr. 
Andross,  even  if  I  wished  to  marry  any  gentleman  whose 

social  position  would  be  so  uncertain,  because "  she 

grew  a  little  paler,  and  her  pipe  of  a  voice  quailed  slightly, 

"because It's  quite  time  that  I  told  you  about  it, 

papa  —  - 1  am  a  wife  already.  I  have  been  married  for 
two  months — to  Mr.  Ware.  Oh,  dear!"  beginning  to 
cry.  "Where  is  Julius?  He  never  is  near  when  he  is 
wanted." 

She  began  to  cry  more  vehemently  in  a  minute  or  two. 
There  was  something  awful  even  to  her  shallow  soul  in 
the  face  of  the  man  whose  life  in  this  world  and  the 
next  she  had  trampled  down :  there  was  such  a  blank 
silence  about  her  too  :  it  was  not  at  all  the  delightful  dis 
may  and  melodrama  to  which  she  had  always  looked  for 
ward  in  this  denouement.  "Take  me  home,  papa. 
Why  don't  you  take  me  home  ?"  she  cried  irritably. 

The  judge,  who  had  dropped  into  a  seat  with  his  pur 
ple  face  buried  in  his  hands,  groaned  aloud  :  "  Married  ! 
To  a  starving  preacher  !  How  in  Heaven's  name  am  I  to 
meet  Bislow's  mortgage,  now  ?" 

Anna  turned  from  him  to  be  confronted  by  Braddock, 
lean  and  stern  and  black-coated ;  fit,  she  thought,  for  a 
judge  in  any  lugubrious  Presbyterian  Israel. 

"Do  you" mean  to  tell  me,"  catching  her  by  the  pink 


304  JOHN   ANDROSS.* 

bejewelled  wrists,  "that  you  were  another  man's  wife  a 
week  ago  ?  "  He  dropped  his  hold  of  her  with  a  gesture 
which,  in  a  less  religious  man  might,  she  felt,  with  a  de 
licious  excitement  have  been  a  curse.  He  turned  his  pale 
face  to  Isabel.  He  sa.v  now  what  he  had  lost  for  this 
poor  creature — saw  how  weak  and  guilty  he  had  been  ; 
how  that  he  in  his  immaculate  strength  had  fallen  as  far 
as  Andross.  "  To  think  that  a  woman — a  member  of  the 
Christian  church,  should  drag  men  so. near  to  hell!" 
he  cried. 

"And  for  Ware!"  muttered  the  judge.  "A  fellow 
without  a  penny !" 

"You  shall  not  speak  harshly  to  her,  Braddock,"  said 
Jack.  "Poor  child!  poor  little  child!"  looking  down 
at  her  as  she  crept  up  to  him,  with  infinite  tenderness  and 
pity  in  his  sad  eyes.  He  even  saw  the  red  marks  on  her 
wrists,  which  she  rubbed  and  held  to  her  cheek ;  remem 
bering,  as  he  did  it,  that  it  was  the  last-  time  he  should 
ever  be  so  near  her  or  touch  her. 

"Nobody  was  ever  so  good  to  me  as  you,  Jack  !"  she 
sobbed. 

He  put  her  gently  away  from  him.  "  I  loved  you  for 
a  long  time,  Anna.  I  wish  you  could  have  found  it  in 
your  heart  to  care  for  me.  But  you  were  right  to  marry 
the  man  you  loved.  /  don't  blame  you."  He  hesitated 
a  moment,  and  then  raised  the  reddened  little  wrist  to 
his  lips.  "  Good  bye,"  he  said  simply,  and  went  to  the 
door,  whence  Isabel  followed  him. 

When  they  were  gone,  and  Anna  was  left  alone  in  the 

faudily  dismal  room  with  her  fat,  groaning  father,  and 
Ir.  Laird,  who  began  to  button  up  his  overcoat,  as  if  the 
play  were  over,  she  felt  as  if  the  anti-climax  was  indeed 
flat- — the  conclusion  of  her  long-projected  romance  both 
lame  and  impotent.     Both  Andross  and  Braddock  were 
gone  now  out  of  her  life  forever.     Nobody  was  left  but 
Ware,  and  fond  as  she  was  of  Julius,  she  had  long  ago  dis- 
i    covered  that  he  would  never  play  up  to  her  in  any  of 
K  her  little  dramas  of  passion. 

"Shall  we  go  home  now,  papa?"  she  asked  again, 
shivering  drearily,  and  looking  at  the  flaring  lights,  the 
hearth  covered  with  ashes  and  tobacco-juice,  and  her  pink 
eilk  skirt  drabbled  and  wet. 


JOHtf   ANDROSS.  305 

"You  will  go  with  your  husband  as  soon  as  he  comes 
to  claim  you/'  said  the  judge. 

"  Julius  lives  a  life  of  faith.  He  has  no  settled  home/' 
she  said,  shuddering,  as  she  remembered  the  cheap  board 
ing-house  in  Philadelphia  in  which  he  made  his  abiding 
place. 

6 i  Then  you  can  live  a  life  of  faith  together,"  coolly. 
"  There  he  comes  across  the  Rotunda,"  as  a  large  figure 
striding  grandiloquently,  came  in  sight. 

"At  least,"  she  cried  shrilly,  looking  up  at  Laird, 
"  nobody  can  deny  that  I  made  a  love-match." 

"No,"  bowing  gallantly.  "Who  could  accuse  you  of 
mercenary  motives  ?" 

"  They  might  have  done  so,"  shaking  her  head  sol 
emnly,  "if  I  had  married  that  poor  Andross.  Only  see 
how  he  has  turned  out !  It  would  have  really  been  a 
judgment  on  me.  He  reminded  me  just  now  when  he 
went  out  into  the  night,  of  Cain  driven  forth  a  vagabond 
and  a  wanderer." 

"Yes,"  looking  gravely  out  into  the  gathering  dark 
ness,  "poor  Jack's  punishment  is  heavy  enough.  'Bad 
has  begun,  yet ' " — with  a  shrewd  glance  over  the  drabbled 
pretty  figure,  "in  my  judgment,  ( worse  remained  be 
hind.'" 

"I  don't  understand  you,"  lisped  Anna,  innocently. 
"Ah,  here  is  dear  Julius,  papa  !" 


CHAPTER     XXXIV. 

journey  to  Lock  Haven  was  made  in  the  midst  of 
a  driving  storm.     The  hail  beat  on  the  car- windows 
and  ran  down  in  glittering  drops  outside.     Isabel  sat 
quite  erect,  holding  her  hands  together,  looking  steadily 
out  as  though  she  could  penetrate  the  darkness. 

They  would  be  riding  side  by  side  through  the  moun 
tain  gorges  now.     It  was  dark — dark There  were  gaps 

and  crevices  at  the  side  of  every  mountain  road  where  the 
snow  lay  deep  all  winter.  A  man  could  drag  a  dead  body 
there  and  it  would  not  be  found  for  years 


306  JOHK    A^DKOSS. 

Once  or  twice  Andross,  who  paced  up  and  down  the 
car  as  though  he  would  have  urged  it  on  by  his  motion, 
stopped  and  said  to  her:  "Do  you  think  we  will  be  in 
time  ?"  It  seemed  to  her  as  if  it  were  a  boy  or  a  child 
who  had  asked  the  question  :  he  was  so  unable,  depend 
ent,  restless.  Yet  there  were  times  when  she  read  in  his 
ghastly  face  some  pain  worse  than  her  own,  and  wondered 
vaguely  at  it.  It  was  not  his  old  father  who  was  to  be 
done  to  death  to-night. 

When  they  had  almost  reached  Lock  Haven,  they  were 
alone  in  the  car,  and  Jack  sat  down  beside  her.  He  was 
a  man  who  could  not  keep  even  the  extremest  pain  hid 
den  in  his  soul  without  groping  for  some  man  or  woman's 
hand  to  help  him.  He  began  talking  to  her  in  a  slow, 
incoherent  way  that  she  could  not  understand,  of  the  boy 
Jack  Andross  long  ago,  whose  mother  used  to  sit  teaching 
him  at  night;  and  of  some  psalms  ("The  Lord  is  my 
Shepherd,"  was  one  of  them),  that  she  had  taught  him : 
and  then  he  repeated  that  verse,  "Though  I  walk 
through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death,  I  shall  fear  no 
,evil ;  for  Thou  art  with  me." 

Isabel  dully  was  conscious  that  Jack  had  had  a  good 
deal  of  trouble  to  bear  to-night,  and  was  sorry  for  him ; 
but  she  could  not  understand  any  one  who  made  this  in- 
cessant  moan  when  in  pain.  The  whole  matter  dropped 
speedily  out  of  her  mind,  together  with  the  crimes  im 
puted  to  Andross  to-night.  Isabel  having  once  accepted 
man  or  woman,  had  an  incurious  habit  of  shutting  her 
eyes  and  ears  to  all  reports,  or  even  facts,  concerning 
them  thereafter.  She  might  hear  it  proved,  on  the  clear 
est  testimony,  that  her  companion  was  a  thief  or  a  mur 
derer,  but  in  five  minutes  she  would  swing  stupidly  back 
to  her  old  conviction,  that  it  was  only  Jack  Andross,  who 
was  her  father's  friend  up  in  Nittany,  a  good  shot,  full  of 
fun,  and  altogether  a  loveable  sort  of  a  fellow. 

If  she  had  not  been  so  slow,  she  would  have  seen  where 
lie  stood  to-night,  and  not  have  left  him  so  utterly  alone. 
Andross  was  not  a  man  who  could  stand  alone. 

She  turned  her  face  mechanically  to  the  window  :  the 
range  of  rolling  hills  which  her  father  must  cross  was 
now  in  sight,  mere  gloomy  shadows  against  the  unlighted 
horizon.  Lonely  even  at  noonday ;  but  at  night  who 


JOHN   ANDKOSS.  307 

j 

would  hear  a  solitary  pistol-shot  ?  The  man  had  chosen 
his  ground  well;  there  was  no  chance  of  interruption 
when  he  chose  to  kill  his  victim. 

Jack,  when  she  turned  away  from  him,  had  gone  out 
and  stood  on  the  platform  as  the  train  slackened  its 
speed,  rushing  toward  the  sleeping  town.  He  had  been 
certain  (according  to  his  habit  of  boyish,  irrational  hopes), 
that  Colonel  Latimer  would  have  stopped  in  Lock  Haven, 
and  would  come  up  to  meet  him  with  his  usual  Hillo  on 
the  platform.  It  was  not  in  nature — God  couldn't  mean 
it,  that  the  old  man  should  die  !  That  he — Jack  Andross 
— should  have  his  blood  on  his  hands  ! 

"Why,  I'm  his  friend  !"  he  cried.  "I  wanted  to  be  a 
friend  to  everybody — and  an  honest  man  ! " 

He  felt  in  his  heart,  too,  even  now,  that  he  had  not  been 
a  bad  sort  of  fellow  :  that  he  had  had  a  friendly,  cordial 
feeling  toward  God  :  there  was  not  a  day  when  he  had  not 
thanked  Him  for  this  beautiful  world,  and  wished  he 

could  live  closer  to  Him,  and  yet Because  he  had 

been  weak  now  and  then — this  had  come  upon  him  !  He 
looked  wildly  up  and  down  the  familiar,  silent  streets  as 
the  car  rolled  on.  It  seemed  incredible  to  him  that  all 
these  sleeping  people,  whom  he  knew,  should  be  innocent 
— and  he  out  in  the  night,  a  thief  and  a  murderer. 

He  opened  the  car  door  and  came  up  to  Isabel  as  the 
brakes  grated,  and  the  train  rumbled  heavily  up  to  the 
station.  When  she  looked  up  at  him,  she  took  his  hand 
hastily  in  hers.  She  had  been  selfish  to  forget  the  poor 
creature  in  his  misery,  she  thought. 

"If  your  father  is  not  here if  he  has  gone  on 

and  is  dead,  it  is  I  who  have  done  it ! "  he  cried.  He 
could  not  have  helped  crying  out  thus  to  her.  He  was 
so  utterly  deserted  by  God  and  man  that,  with-  his  tem 
perament,  he  would  have  gone  mad,  if  some  human  be 
ing  had  not  broken  the  silence  into  which  his  life  seemed 
to  have  fallen. 

Isabel,  at  last,  understood  how  the  case  stood  with  him. 
She  waited  a  moment  to  think  what  she  should  say.  She 
had  never  come  near  a  soul  in  such  straits  before.  "I 
shall  never  reproach  you  with  what  you  have  done.  I 

know  how  you  have  tried  to  do  right,  and God 

knows.     Come,  let  us  go,"  rising. 


308  JOHN   ANDROSS. 

He  followed  her  slowly  out  of  the  car,  afraid  to  look  at 
the  group  of  figures  on  the  platform.,  dimly  seen  through 
the  falling  snow  —  lest  Latimer's  should  not  be  among 
them. 

Now  there  was  in  fact  a  reasonable  chance  for  this 
most  unreasonable  expectation;  for  Andross  had  forgotten 
that,  as  they  waited  in  the  depot  in  Harrisburgh,  Brad- 
dock,  who  had  followed  them  from  the  Capitol,  had 
drawn  him  aside,  and  obtained  a  full  account  of  the  pur 
pose  and  meaning  of  their  journey.  Braddock  had  gone 
promptly  into  the  adjacent  office,  and  telegraphed  to 
Lock  Haven  that  the  colonel  should  be  detained  there 
until  his  arrival,  and  then  had  taken  a  seat  in  the  rear 
car.  He  had — he  knew  in  bitterness  of  soul — no  right 
to  offer  help  to  Isabel.  Andross,  of  course,  had  never 
thought  of  such  matter-of-fact  aids  as  Braddock  or  the 
telegraph.  The  only  chance  to  prevent  the  murder  was  for 
him  to  follow  Voss,  and,  in  a  hand  to  hand  struggle  kill 
him  or  be  killed.  But  the  telegraph  office  in  Lock  Haven 
had  been  closed  f or  an  hour,  which  fact  Braddock,  with 
all  his  business-like  readiness,  forgot  was  the  custom  in 
the  little  town  until  he  was  on  his  way. 

It  seemed,  indeed,  as  if  Jack's  wrere  to  be  the  only  way 
of  rescue.  He  followed  Isabel  to  the  half-dozen  dark 
figures  on  the  platform.  She  looked  at  them,  and  turned 
away.  Her  father  was  not  among  them.  But  Andross 
took  her  place,  speaking  rapidly  and  with  decision.  Since 
Isabel  had  shown  some  sign  of  interest  in  him,  his  veins 
seemed  to  be  filled  with  new  blood. 

' e  Has  Colonel  Latimer  gone  on  to  Nittany  ? " 

s<  Yes,  sir ;  him  and  another  gentleman By  George  ! 

Mr.  Andross  !  I  didn't  know  you  ! "  The  station  master 
knuckled  his  hat  which,  like  his  caped  cloak,  was  heavy 
with  snow. 

"  Were  they  on  horseback  ?" 

"  Yes,  sir.  You're  not  going  on,  surely.  It's  a  mon 
strous  rough  night  to  be  out  on  the  mountains,  as  I  told 
the  colonel.  But  he  said  there  was  a  sick  lad  waiting  for 
him  in  Nittany,  and  his  friend  determined  to  pull  through 
with  him.  That's  never  Miss  Latimer!"  going  up  to 
her,  for  Andross  had  left  him  after  the  first  word  and 
had  already  bargained  with  Joe,  from  the  Fallen  House, 


AKDEOSS.  309 

for  the  sleigh  and  horses,  which  he  had  brought  down  to 
meet  the  train. 

"How  far  are  they  in  advance  of  us?"  was  Isabel's 
only  reply  to  the  station  master's  bows  and  questions. 

"They've  been  gone  an  hour.  Quite  an  hour  I  should 
say,  Joseph  ?  " 

"About  that.  No,  Mr.  Andross,  you'd  get  no  better 
team  than  that  if  you  tried  every  stable  in  the  town." 

Some  mystery  was  abroad  which  Joe  would  fain  have 
discovered.  He  hung  about  Andross  until  he  disappeared 
into  the  station,  where  bj-  the  lamp  he  hastily  examined 
the  priming  of  his  pistols,  buttoning  them  in  his  breast 
pocket  more  carefully,  to  keep  them  dry.  When  he  came 
out,  a  tall  man  was  feeling  in  the- darkness  the  girths  of 
the  horses,  loosening  a  strap  here,  tightening  a  knot 
there. 

"  There  will  be  no  time  for  stopping  to  do  this  on  the 
way,"  he  said  when  Andross  muttered,  impatiently,  at 
the  delay. 

"  You,  Braddock  ?    Now,  Miss  Latimer,  you  will  go  to 

the  hotel.     I  shall  come  back  as  soon  as as  I  can 

bring  you  word,  what  the  end  was." 

"  I  ?    I  am  going  to  my  father,  Mr.  Andross." 

"  That  is  impossible  ; Braddock  ?  " 

"  Let  her  go,"  whispered  Clay.   "  Lift  her  in  and  wrap 
the  buffalo-robes  about  her."     He  stood  apart,  while  An 
dross  obeyed  him,  and  watched  them  disappear  in  the 
blinding  snow.     Isabel  had  heard  him,  and  leaned  from  , 
the  sleigh,  trying  to  see  his  face,  but  she  could  not.     Her 
strength  left  her  then  for  the  first  time.     There  seemed  I 
to  be  nothing  before  her  in  that  whirling  gray  night  but  • 
death.     If  Clay  could  but  have  come  with  her — if  she, 
could  only  have  heard  a  word  of  advice  from  him,  it  must ! 
have  ended  differently ! 

That  strength-giving  hero  meanwhile,  according  to  his 
systematic  habit,  had  gone  to-  a  livery  stable  and  hired 
a  stronger  horse  than  either  of  Joe's,  and  was  rapidly 
following  them  up  the  road  that  led  to  the  hills,  gaining 
on  them  with  every  mile  :  the  echoes  of  his  horse's  feet 
lost  in  the  soft,  deep  snow. 


310  JOHN   ANDROSS. 


CHAPTER    XXXV. 

A  NDROSS  stopped  at  a  toll-house ;  afterward,  three 
**•?*-  or  four  miles  further  on,  at  a  cabin  in  which 
a  light  was  burning.  At  both,  the  same  report  was 
given.  The  two  men  had  passed  on  horseback  an  hour 
before,  riding  side  by  side,  the  gate-keeper  said.  The 
man  in  the  cabin,  Leftwik,  an  old  Swede,  who  lived  by 
trapping,  had  been  summoned  .to  the  door  by  the  colonel 
to  bring  a  light. 

Something  had  gone  wrong  with  the  saddle :  a  girth 
cut,  which  the  old  colonel  had -tied  up.  It  was  Colonel 
Latimer,  of  course  ;  Leftwik  had  known  him  this  many  a 
year.  He  had  his  joke  and  laugh  as  usual,  in  spite  of  the 
sleet  which  beat  in  his  face.  The  other  gentleman  had 
fallen  a  few  paces  behind  the  colonel,  and  seemed  grum 
and  quiet.  Thought  he  was  disheartened  with  the 
weather.  It  was  the  worst  storm  of  the  winter.  They 
would  not  put  up  till  morning  ?  with  a  curious  glance 
at  the  cloaked  woman's  figure. 

A  few  paces  behind  ?  Andross  did  not  turn  after  this 
to  look  at  his  companion.  He  felt  that  the  end  was  at 
hand.  They  were  nearing  the  higher  peaks  of  the  range 
now,  where  the  road  ran  through  long  gorges  to  gain  the 
valleys  beyond.  These  mountains  were  lonely,  untraversed 
even  in  summer  by  the  most  adventurous  hunters ;  the 
defiles  deep  and  drifted  now  high  with  snow.  Their 
progress  was  slow.  Andross  could  do  no  more  than  sit 
wet  and  half  frozen,  patiently  urging  forward  the  unable 
horses,  that  had  showed  signs  of  exhaustion  an  hour  after 
starting.  The  heavy  sleigh  more  than  once  had  balked 
in  the  wet,  clogging  snow.  If  he  could  have  run  or  have 
fought  his  way  through  the  night  and  snow,  this  dead 
weight  would  not  have  settled  on  his  body  and  brain. 
But  to  plod,  plod,  step  by  step,  when  the  gain  of  a  minute 
might  save  the  old  man's  life  and  leave  "his  soul  clear  of 
murder !  More  than  once  he  fancied  he  heard,  echoed 
in  the  depths  of  the  interminable  leafless  forest,  a  pistol 
shot,  or  cries ;  and  then  the  horses  would  drag  more 
slowly  than  before. 

"  I've  been  in  a  hurry  all  my  life,"  thought  Jack,  with 


JOHN   AKDEOSS.  311 

a  forlorn  laugh.  "  I  suppose  the  end  is  to  be  measured 
off  for  me." 

For  unconsciously,  and  without  regret,  he  knew  this 
was  the  end.  To-day  his  past  life  had  closed,  and 
barred  all  its  highways  to  him :  left  him  without  work, 
wages,  a  friend,  or  purpose  in  the  world. 

They  had  reached  that  toll-house  which  stands  on  a 
high  level  at  the  entrance  of  the  chain  of  barren  peaks, 
or  rather  massed  rocks,  heaped,  height  on  height,  as  for 
a  rampart  in  some  old  war  of  the  giants.  Even  in  sum 
mer  they  are  utterly  destitute  of  vegetation  :  lichens  and 
the  tender  moss,  which  hide  all  unsightly  things,  never 
had  essayed  to  shelter  their  savage  rudeness;  but  now 
the  snow  had  frozen  in  the  gorges  between,  and  coldly 
whitened  the  darkest  crevices,  throwing  into  bold  relief 
the  full  meaning  of  the  mountains.  It  seemed  to  An- 
dross,  standing  on  the  height,  that  they  turned  to  him 
the  unfeeling  solitude  of  a  dead  face,  with  the  white  cere 
cloth  loosely  fallen  from  about  it.  The  snow  had  ceased 
to  fall,  the  moon  had  risen,  and  threw  a  ghastly  light 
upon  the  farther  peaks  on  the  horizon. 

Jack  shouted  and  pounded  on  the  door.  It  was  a  relief 
to  hear  his  own  voice  and  that  of  the  old  one-armed  gate 
keeper.  "  Colonel  Latimer  had  passed  through  the  gate. 
The  man  with  him  was  a  stranger.  They  might  have 
gone  two  miles  by  this  time." 

"I  thought  it  "would  be  done  here,"  Jack  muttered, 
looking  down  the  long  defile  before  him.  He  trudged 
along  by  the  horses'  heads ;  any  motion  was  better  than 
to  sit  idly  holding  the  reins. 

As  the  mountains  rose  higher  on  either  side  of  the 
road,  the  shadows  fell  more  heavily.  The  deep  snow 
penetrated  his  clothes,  icy-cold.  He  could  fancy  the  old 
man,  lying  helpless,  buried  in  it,  the  life-blood  oozing 
away  in  it.  If  voss  attacked  him  before  he  reached  Nit- 
tany,  it  was  here  that  it  was  done.  And  he,  Jack  An- 
dross,  had  counselled  and  sent  him  to  do  it. 

As  Jack  ploughed  his  way  through  the  narrow  chasm, 
one  hand  on  the  horse's  bit  and  the  other  on  his  pistol, 
he  no  longer  glanced  warily  from  side  to  side.  Latimer 
and  Anna  and  Laird  slipped  away  from  him,  and  he 
seemed  to  be  alone,  face  to  face  with  the  God  whom  his 


312  JOHK   ANDROSS. 

mother  kne,w.    Not  Braddock's  implacable  Judge.     The 
God  of  the  old  hymns—    -  "He  maketh  us  to  lie  down 

in  green  pastures "     "His  loving  kindness — loving 

kindness  —   -"    "  Even  as  a  father  pitieth  his  children." 

The  boy  (for  he  was  nothing  but  a  boy)  said  these 
scraps  over  and  over,  staring  straight  on.  He  understood 
now  !  Oh,  he  understood  !  How  he  had  turned  his  back 
on  Him.  Had  the  punishment  come  ?  Or  was  there  yet 
a  chance  ?  The  loving  kindness 

The  hour  which  enters  once  into  every  man's  life  had 
come  at  last  to  the  merry,  social,  weak  fellow :  friends 
and  lovers  were  gone,  and  his  soul  was  alone  with  God  in 
judgment. 

The  snow  had  drifted  here  but  lightly.  He  could  not 
be  mistaken:  there  were  marks  of  heavy  trampling. 
There  had  been  a  struggle. 

Stooping  to  follow  the  tracks  of  horses'  feet,  he  hurried 
on  into  the  now  unbroken  silence.  After  a  mile  was 
passed,  a  low,  shapeless  figure  came  up  the  gorge,  meet-- 
ing  them.  It  was  Heltzer  from  Millheim,  on  his  donkey. 
Jack  remembered  both  well.  But  it  was  no  time  for 
greetings. 

"Have  you  met  any  travellers  before  us  in  the  gorge  ?" 

"Yes,"  grunted  Heltzer  from  out  his  mufflers. 

Jack  left  the  sleigh  and  came  up  close  to  the  donkey, 
out  of  Isabel's  hearing.  It  was  a  minute  before  his  dry 
lips  could  ask  the  question.  .  >.  - 

"  How  many  men  did  you  meet  ?" 

"Only  one,  riding  alone." 

Andross  walked  on,  holding  the  horse,  holding  his 
pistol  also  more  tightly.  In  a  moment  or  two  the  soft 
thud  of  a  horse's  feet  was  heard,  and  Braddock  rode  up 
behind  him.  Jack  did  not  look  up.  Clay  stooped  beside 
him. 

"I  met  Heltzer,"  he  said.     "It  is  all  over."    , 

"Yes,  it  is  all  over." 

"Where  are  you  going?" 

"Voss  is  alive — and  I " 

"There  shall  be  no  bloodshed,  Andross.  I  will  go 
with  you  ;  we  will  arrest  the  man." 

The  silence  was  unbroken  until  Heltzer  remembering 


AX-DROSS.  313 

at  last  that  he  had  not  finished  all  he  wished  to  say, 
jogged  back  after  them. 

"  That  man  I  met  went  to  the  cabin  in  the  Black  Wolf 
Hollow — if  you  want  him." 

"I  want  him,"  said  Andross,  and  dropping  the  rein, 
ran  on  quickly  out  of  Braddock's  sight  or  reach  of  call. 

The  gleam  of  light  from  the  cabin  lay  like  a  red  bar 
across  the  darkness  for  a  mile  ahead.  But  as  he  neared 
it,  Voss,  on  a  powerful  gray  pony,  rode  boldly  up  out  of 
a  dark  gap,  and  stopped  with  his  horse's  nostrils  breath 
ing  hotly  in  Jack's  face.  Jack  leaped  at  him  with  the 
strength  of  a  wild  beast. 

"  Where  is  Colonel  Latimer?" 

"Take  care,  Mr.  Andross,"  coolly,  "I'm  armed." 

"You  have  murdered  him  !" 

"  That  was  what  you  bargained  with  me  to  do,  I  believe. 
Look  there!" 

Jack  turned  to  the  cabin.  In  the  open  door,  the  fire 
light  showing  his  big  bony  body  from  head  to  foot,  stood 
Colonel  Latimer. 

When  Andross  turned  again,  he  found  that  Voss  was 
talking. 

"  Of  course  I'm  sorry  to  miss  any  job.  And  Wilkins 
was  liberal  to  me — very  liberal.  Wilkins  knows  a  good 
man's  worth  a  good  price.  If  it  had  been  himself  or  your 
friend  Laird,  or  any  of  that  kind  of  currency  I  had  to 
give  a  lesson  to,  I'd  not  have  backed  out.  But  I  rode 
from  Harrisburgh  to  here  with  this  old  man.  You  didn't 
tell  me  what  sort  of  stuff  he  was,  Mr.  Andross.  I  was 
taken  at  a  disadvantage,  as  I  might  say." 

"And — and  what  did  you  find  him,  Voss?"  Jack 
laughed  aloud  with  a  fierce,  convulsive  clutching  in  the 
throat.  It  seemed  to  him  for  a  minute  as  if  the  heat  of 
summer  weather  was  about  him,  and  Voss  was  the  best 
of  good  fellows. 

"I  don't  know  what  you'd  call  him.  But  he  treated 
me  as  if  I  was  a  man.  After  I'd  knowed  him  for  an  hour, 
talkin'  free-like,  I  couldn't  have  put  a  bullet  through  his 
head  no  more  that  if  it  had  been  my  mother's.  *"  D'ye 
think  Wilkins  '11  allow  nothing  on  the  pay  ?  I  don't 
often  go  back  on  my  word,  and  I  can't  well  afford  to  lose 
the  money,  neither.  It's  been  an  infernally  cold  jaunt — " 


314  JOHN   A5TDROS3. 

But  Andross,  seeing  the  sleigh  close  at  hand,  had  run 
to  it,  lifted  Isabel  out  as  if  she  were  a  baby,  and  carrier] 
her  to  her  father — putting  her  right  into  his  arms. 

"There,  there  !"  he  shouted,  and  then  groped  blindly 
about  for  a  seat.  Somebody  placed  him  in  one,  and  pres 
ently,  when  he  could  see,  he  found  that  Braddock  had 
loosened  his  cravat,  and  was  quietly  holding  snow  to  his 
face;  but  Isabel  was  still  sobbing  over  the  astonished 
colonel,  stroking  his  bony  hands  and  gray  hair  as  if  riot 
yet  sure  that  she  had  him  safe  again. 


CHAPTEK    XXXVI. 

VAN  METER,  the  owner  of  the  cabin,  bustled  to 
and  fro  heaping  up  the  fires,  shutting  the  colonel 
and  his  daughter  into  an  inner  room,  bringing  out 
whiskey  and  urging  it  on  everybody.  What  explanation 
Isabel  made  to  her  father  no  one  knew ;  nor  how  much 
he  received  as  fact.  He  came  out  presently,  with  a  more 
bewildered  look  than  before  ;  but  his  old  habit  of  military 
command  always  stood  him  in  good  stead  in  an  emer 
gency. 

"  Isabel  has  been  telling  me  some  wild  story  of  forged 
letters  and  assassinations ;  women  always  do  make  a  mess 
of  business.  One  would  suppose  she  had  been  reading 
Mrs.  Radcliffe's  romances." 

Andross  came  up  to  him.  He  had  not  yet  confessed 
his  guilt  to  the  old  man,  he  remembered.  "  She  has  told 
you  the  truth,"  he  began,  "  and  I " 

"No,  no,  Mr.  Andross  !  have  done  with  it !"  laughing 
nervously.  "I  want  no  more  tales  of  horrors.  I  shall 
believe  just  as  much  as  I  please  of  the  whole  story.  That 
man  Voss  appears  to  me  to  be  a  very  decent,  well-meaning 
sort  of  fellow,  and  I'm  not  often  mistaken  in  human 
nature.  One  thing  is  certain,  however,  that  my  nephew, 
Hale  Latimer,  is  not  with  our  friend  Van  Meter  here,  as 
I  expected  to  find  him.  We  are  only  three  miles  from 
Nittany.  We  will  go  on  at  once  to  the  old  house.  I 
left  a  man  in  it,  so  that  it  might  be  ready  for  us  when 
ever  we  chose  to  go  back  home  for  a  day  or  two.  Home 
will  be  welcome  to  us  all,  just  now." 


JOHN   AisDEOSS.  315 

He  looked  direct  at  Andross  as  he  spoke,  but  Jack 
drew  back.  "lean  not  go.  You  would  not  bring  me 
under  your  roof,  Colonel  Latimer,  if  you  knew " 

"But  I  would,  sir  !"  laying  his  both  hands  on  the  young 
man's  shoulders,  his  face  kindling.  "I  know  all  about 


you,  boy.  Better  than  you  do  yourself:  much  better! 
There's  no  man  living  who  is  a  more  honoured  and  wel 
come  guest  at  my  hearth  than  you.  Now,"  changing  his 
tone  hurriedly  to  prevent  any  answer,  "  look  to  the  horses, 
will  you,  Jack  ?  Van  Meter  will  give  them  a  meal,  and 
in  an  hour  we'll  all  be  under  the  old  roof  again,  thank 
God!" 

^  He  turned  to  Braddock,  drawing  himself  up  formally ; 
his  hospitable  soul  could  not  withhold  an  invitation, 
though  in  truth  it  cut  sorely  against  the  grain  to  give  it. 
But  the  doctor,  sterner  and  stiffer  than  usual  in  his  wet 
clothes  and  frozen  black  whiskers  about  his  lean  face, 
stood  by  the  great  chimney-place  looking  down  with  a 
dull  despair  into  Isabel's  face,  as  she  sat  drying  her  feet  by 
the  fire.  His  coat  and  trousers  and  whiskers  were  thaw 
ing  and  steaming  together,  but  he  did  not  know  it.  He 
knew  nothing  but  that  he  had  wakened  from  a  befogged, 
impure  dream  to  the  old  daylight-world  again,  and  that 
he  stood  alone  in  it. 

Neither  Clay  nor  Isabel  were  people  used  to  dramatize 
their  feelings.  She  looked  steadily  into  Van  Meter's 
roaring  fire,  because  she  was  afraid  to  meet  his  eye.  She 
knew  he  had  come  back  to  her;  should  she  trust  to  him 
again  ?  If  she  gave  a  look  or  sign  of  forgiveness,  it  must 
hold  good  forever.  Isabel  gave  no  half  pledges. 

The  colonel,  after  a  momentary  scrutiny  of  the  pair, 
wheeled  around  in  his  opinion,  and  silently  took  Brad- 
dock's  part  violently.  "It's  all  been  a  cursed  mistake, 
somehow.  There's  no  lie  in  that  boy's  face,"  he  thought. 
<<  Isabel  ought  to  see  that.  But  women  are  as  unforgiv 
ing  as  the  devil,  and  as  unreasonable."  Afraid  that  he 
might  be  led  in  his  wrath  to  interfere,  he  went  out  to  help 
Andross  and  Van  Meter  with  the  horses. 

They  were  alone.  It  might  be  the  last  minute  they 
would  ever  be  alone.  If  he  lost  this  chance 

But  Braddock,  trembling  with  fear  and  real,  honest 
love,  was  yet  eminently  practical  in  his  wooing. 


316  JOHN    ANDROSS. 

"Your  gloves  are  wet,"  he  said,  stooping  nearer  her. 
."Your  wrists  look  frozen  with  cold." 

She  drew  them  off,  and  tried  to  answer  him  ;  but 
could  not — broke  down  with  the  first  word.  She  would 
have  him  now  think  she  was  crying  because  her  hands 
were  cold ! 

She  held  them  up  to  the  fire,  resolutely,  and  then 
caught  sight  of  his  sad,  thin  face. 

"You  used  to  give  me  your  hands  to  warm,  to  keep 
them  from  aching,"  he  said,  with  a  miserable  smile. 
"You  would  not  do  that  now,  Isabel." 

She  had  meant  that  he  should  humble  himself  so  low, 
before  she  forgave  him — and  he  had  not  humbled  himself 
at  all !  He  had  asked  nothing  but  to  warm  her  hands. 
They  were  cold  ;  God  knows,  she  was  all  cold,  body  and 
soul,  since  he  left  her. 

She  turned  her  honest  eyes  full  on  his,  and  after  a  mo 
ment's  searching,  held  out  the  blue,  stiff  hands. 

The  heat  rushed  to  his  face.  She  had  not  thought 
such  fire  and  passion  was  in  the  man.  He  held  them 
close  to  his  breast.  "Am  I  to  keep  them,  Isabel?"  he 
asked,  under  his  breath. 

"Yes,  Clay."     She  rose,  and  they  stood  face  to  face. 

"But  you  told  me  that  you  no  longer  loved  me, 
Isabel?" 

"That  was  a  mistake  of  mine  then,"  with  a  shy  blush. 

"You  do  love  me  as  much  as  before  ?»"  eagerly. 
"  There  is  no  change  in  your  love. for  me  ?  " 

"I  did  not  say  that."  She  looked  gravely  at  him,  de 
liberating.  "No,"  said  the  honest,  dull  creature,  shak 
ing  her  head  slowly.  "I  can  never  say  that  I  love 
you  as  I  did,  Clay."" 

The  colonel  sat  radiant  at  the  foot  of  the  breakfast 
table  the  next  morning.  The  house  was  warmed  and  in 
order;  they  all  slept  late,  and  just  before  the  meal  was 
ready,  who  should  appear  in  the  kitchen  door,  like  the 
genial  black  genius  of  the  place,  but  Oth  ?  The  old  man 
had  gathered  from  Miss  Morgan's  terrors  and  from  the 
boy  Dick,  the  facts  of  his  master's  danger,  and  followed 
Isabel  on  the  next  train.  He  had  cried  and  prayed  out  his 
thankfulness,  in  the  colonel's  room,  and  then  rushed  out 


JOHX  AJSTBSOSSi  317 

to  find  vent  for  his  remaining  emotion  in  raids  upon  the 
neighborhood  for  venison  and  coffee  for  the  breakfast  table. 

"This  is  home  at  last!"  cried  the  colonel,  turning 
from  old  Mttany,  towering  without,  his  feet  in  snow 
and  head  in  the  misty  sky,  to  the  faces  of  the  guests  be 
side  him.  No  winter  morning  in  town  was  ever  so  ex 
hilarating  in  its  cold ;  the  creek  babbled  a  subdued  wcl-  . 
come  under  its  icy  cover,  all  about  the  house ;  the  honey-  v 
suckles  on  the  window  glittered  with  hoar  frost ;  the  very 
cocks  and  hens,  perched  on  the  barn  fence,  clucked  and 
crowed  a  good  morning  to  him.  A  heap  of  fragrant  pine 
logs  crackled  and  roared  on  the  hearth  ;  the  venisqn  sent 
up  a  savory  smell.  Oth  could  not  hide  his  delighted 
grin  as  he  passed  the  cups. 

"It  is  all  just  as  it  should  be — just  as  it  should  be  !" 
said  the  colonel  rubbing  his  hands,  looking  at  Bell,  Brad- 
dock,  and  Andross  in  turn,  his  face  in  a  glow.  "  If  the 
bear  skin  was  back,  and  my  arm-chair,  and  pipes  !  What 
if  we  send  for  them,  and  settle  down  for  a  week's  holi 
day  ? "  He  kept  silence  for  a  minute  or  two,  and  then 
brought  down  his  fist  on  his  knee. 

"  By  George  !  What,  if  we  bring  up  the  bear  skin  and 
pipes,  and  settle  down  here  altogether  ?  The  Works  are 
in  the  market  again.  I  can  buy  them — part  cash  down, 
and  you  two  boys  shall  run  them.  What  do  you  say  ? 
What  do  you  say?" 

"There  would  be  no  better  investment  for  your  money, 
Colonel.  The  works  have  yielded  twenty  per  cent  this 
fall,"  said  Braddock  guardedly,  although  his  lean  face 
had  reddened  with  excitement. 

"  Confound  the  per  cent !  We  four  are  not  a  money- 
making  fraternity,  Clay.  We've  had  enough  of  the  eternal 
digging  for  dollars  in  town ;  noAv  we'll  try  for  something 
better.  Well,  what  do  you  say,  Andross  ?  "  leaning  over 
the  taDle  to  take  him  by  the  hand.  "  You  are  to  live  in 
the  house  with  us,  remember.  We'll  all  make  a  fresh 
start  again  in  old  Nittany,  please  God." 

But  Andross  replied  so  gravely  and  rationally  that  the 
colonel  grew  silent.  "  The  boy's  hearty  spirit  is  killed 
within  him,"  he  said  to  Bell,  shaking  his  head  sorrow 
fully  when  the  two  young  men  had  gone  out.  "  There's 
no  use  in  trying  to  bring  him  to  life  again." 


318  JOHN   AXDROSS. 

"We'll  try,  papa,"  said  Isabel  quietly. 

Braddock  and  Jack  walked  over  to  the  Works,  to  look 
about  them.  Braddock,  who  usually  cared  but  little  for 
men's  moods,  was  startled  at  the  change  in  Andross.  He 
sat  dully  in  his  old  office,  scarcely  noticing  even  the  books 
which  he  had  left  upon  the  shelves  ;  and  when  the  men 
crowded  about  the  door,  hearing  he  was  within,  and 
cheering  as  he  came  out,  his  greeting  was  so  lifeless  and 
unsmiling  that  the  cheer  died  away  half  uttered. 

Braddock,  observing  him  closely  with  a  physician's 
eye,  found  more  cause  for  alarm  than  did  even  the 
colonel.  Andross,  he  saw,  had  reached  one  of  those 
crises  which  occur  in  the  lives  of  nervous  men,  when  men 
tal  and  physical  vitality  are  exhausted  by  some  worker 
disappointment  which  has  produced  a  mortal  overdraw. 
The  chances  are  even  in  such  a  case,  he  told  Isabel, 
whether,  through  strong  new  interests  the  ducts  of  the 
man's  life  fill  again  with  healthy  currents,  or  whether  he 
sink  into  disease,  inability,  or  death.  With  Andross's 
full,  vehement  temperament,  the  latter  road  would  be 
but  a  short  one. 

But  once,  Andross  was  roused  to  a  likeness  o  his  old 
self.  He  was  going  over  the  books  of  the  firm,  with 
Braddock,  preparatory  to  the  final  purchase.  "  I  have  a 
sum  of  about  six  thousand  dollars  saved,"  he  said, 
"which  I  could  have  put  into  this  to  help  the  colonel 
with  his  first  payment ;  but  I  owe  it  to  Judge  Maddox." 

Braddock  found  it  hard  to  bring  himself  to  speak  ;  but 
he  could  not  let  his  hard  earnings  go  to  the  Maddoxes, 
father  or  daughter. 

"You  owe  it  to  me,  Jack,"  he  said  gently,  without 
pausing  as  he  jotted  down  a  line  of  figures.  When  he 
looked  up,  Andross  was  standing  in  front  of  him. 

"  I  never  knew  you  before,  Clay,"  he  whispered  hoarse 
ly.  "Why  did  you  keep  this  from  me ?" 

"I  don't  like  a  fuss,"  dipping  his  pen  again  in  the  ink. 


CHAPTER    XXXVII. 

OLD"  Nittany  never  relapsed   into  its  ancient  depth 
of   melancholy  again.      Braddock  and  Isabel  were 
married  in  the  homestead  early  in  May.     The  Woiks  were 


JOHN   AX  DROSS.  319 

soon  in  full  and  successful  operation.  The  colonel  did 
propose  to  try  wood  instead  of  charcoal,,  but  was  con 
tented  at  last  to  leave  the  business  in  the  younger  men's 
hands,  and  to  carry  on  his  divers  experiments  in  an  ad 
jacent  shed.  His  next  proposition  was  that  Houston 
Laird  should  be  invited  to  take  part  of  the  stock,  but  this 
idea  was  received  so  coldly  by  the  rest  of  the  family,  that 
he  wisely  dropped  it.  He  always  retained  his  old  faith  in 
Laird's  honour,  however,  in  spite  of  the  prejudices  of  the 
young  people,  and  was  delighted  to  find,  when  he  ran 
down  to  New  York  once  a  year,  that  the  failure  of  the 
Transit  Company  had  not  seriously  injured  that  gentle 
man's  credit  in  Wall  street.  "He  certainly  passed 
through  bankruptcy,"  he  told  Isabel,  after  one  visit  four 
years  later.  "  But  he  seems  to  have  renewed  his  strength 
as  speedily  as  that  fabulous  bird  the  phoenix,  or  Job.  It 
always  struck  me  that  Job  must  have  had  remarkable 
financial  ability  with  his  other  virtues.  You  remember 
the  story  of  the  recovery  of  his  fortune,  Isabel  ?  I  assure 
you,  my  dear,  I  consider  Houston  Laird  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  men  of  this  day.  Just  as  unflagging  as  ever, 
too,  in  his  efforts  to  do  good — president  of  the  Christian 
Brotherhood,  and  so  on.  He  gave  me  a  dinner  at  his 
club  ;  very  nice — very  nice  indeed.  All  the  best  men  in 
"New  York  were  there." 

"Do  you  ever  hear  anything  of  that  unfortunate  man, 
"Ware,  papa?" 

"You  pity  him  because  he  married  little  Anna  ?  Now, 
she  really  makes  a  most  admirable  wife ;  she  has  grown 
stout,  to  be  sure.  But  she  is  devoted  to  her  husband, 
Laird  tells  me.  Oh  there's  no  doubt  that  Ware  is  a  most 
devout  person — lives  wholly  by  faith  :  it  is  wonderful  to 
read  the  anecdotes  about  him  in  the  papers,  how  he 
relies  on  Providence.  Still,  if  it  wasn't  for  Anna's  music 
teaching,  and  the  help  which  Maddox  gives  them,  she 
and  the  children,  Laird  says,  would  absolutely  starve. 
I — I  was  thinking  we  might  make  up  a  little  box  of 
clothes,  country  produce,  and  so  on — eh — my  dear? 
They're  quite  used  to  that  sort  of  thing.  Living  by 
faith,  you  see?" 

"  No,  papa."  Isabel  shook  her  head  quietly,  but  a  por 
tentous  heat  rose  into  her  pale  cheeks.  "1  shall  send 


320  JOHK   ANDROSS. 

them  no  box,  I  am  sure,"  she  added  with  acrimony,  ' '  the 
sight  of  that  wreck  yonder,"  nodding  to  Andross  outside, 
""ought  to  convince  you  what  manner  of  woman  she  is  !': 

"Yes,  that's  true.  Tut,  tut!  Andross  will  never  be 
his  old  self.  The  j  oiliest,  heartiest  fellow !  But  he's 
very  far  from  being  a  wreck,  Bell.  Braddock  says  his 
attention  to  business  is  wonderful,  and  I'm  sure  he  is  a 
slave  to  little  Tom.  Look  there  !"  watching  Jack  romp 
ing  with  Isabel's  child  with  sparkling  eyes,  and  then  tak 
ing  up  his  hat  to  join  them. 

""/  call  him  a  wreck,"  persisted  Isabel.  In  fact,  she 
carried  Andross  in  her  heart  and  head  very  much  as  she 
did  her  father  or  her  baby — regarding  them  all  as  un 
able,  irresponsible  beings.  "  He  ought  to  have  a  wife  and 
Toms  of  his  own  to  slave  for,"  she  secretly  thought. 

As  year  after  year  passed,  and  Jack  went  and  came  on 
the  business  of  the  firm,  and  friends,  both  men  and 
women,  began  to  gather  about  him  in  the  old  eager,  cor 
dial  fashion,  the  colonel  declared  the  lad  was  his  old  self 
again.  ' '  He  sings  and  whistles  even  over  his  accounts ;  he 
is°  like  a  gust  of  fresh  wind  coming  into  the  house,  with 
his  jokes  and  romps  with  Tom  :  he  is  flinging  his  money 
away  on  old  crockery  again — what  more  do  you  want?" 

But  Isabel  saw  with  shrewder  eyes.  "  God  only  could 
see,"  she  said,  "how  deep  were  the  scars  and  hurts  left 
in  his  soul  after  that  pink,  drabbled  little  creature  had 
handled  and  flung  it  from  her." 

It  was  in  accordance  with  a  plan  of  Isabel's  that  the 
whole  family  went  one  August  to  a  quiet  little  watering 
place  on  the  coast,  when  she  knew  that  Ware  and  his 
wife  were  there.  Anna  was  undeniably  stout  and  slov 
enly  ;  she  made  a  demi-god  of  the  handsome,  well-dressed 
Julius,  and  insisted  that  all  other  people  should  worship, 
or  at  least  pay  tithes  to  him.  But  shrill  and  shrewish 
and  fat  as  she  was,  she  served  and  drudged  for  her  big, 
lazy  Baal  sincerely  and  unselfishly,  and  never  had  deserved 
as  much  respect  and  love  from  Andross  as  now,  when  he 
seemed  disposed  to  give  her  the  least. 

He  watched  her  every  day,  toiling  after  Julius,  carry- 
in  o-  a  subscription  book  in  her  pocket,  which  she  pre 
sented  nnblushingly  to  every  new  acquaintance  with  the 
old  story  of  the  life  of  faith,  Jung  Stilling,  etc.  '*  u  are 


JOHN  AKDROSS.  321 

has  brought  her  down  to  his  own  level/5  he  said,  indif 
ferently,  to  Isabel. 

"He  is  cured,"  she  thought,  triumphantly. 

One  evening,  when  she  was  alone  with  him  on  the 
beach,  as  he  lay  in  the  sand  at  her  feet,  watching  the 
tide  come  in,  she  spoke  to  him,  for  the  first  time  in  her 
life,  of  himself.  She  had  meant  to  do  it  for  years,  but 
never  had  been  able  to  find  the  courage  ;  and  now  she  did 
it  half  by  accident,  unconsciously.  An  dross  had  care 
lessly  mentioned  some  one  who  passed  as  "  a  successful 
man. " 

"  Wealth  or  high  position  hardly  seems  to  me  to  deserve 
the  name  of  success  in  life,"  Isabel  said  slowly,  and  then 
glancing  down  at  him,  her  colour  suddenly  rose  and  she 
went  on  hastily.  "  A  man  who,  through  years  and  years, 
fights  against  his  besetting  folly  or  his  weakness,  and  con 
quers  it — that  is  the  successful  man,  Jack." 
,  He  made  no  answer.  She  was  not  fluent  at  any  time, 
and  was,  after  all,  a  good  deal  daunted  now  by  the  large 
strong  man's  figure,  even  when  his  face  was  turned  away 
from  her. 

"It  seems  to  me,"  she  said,  swallowing  a  choking  in 
her  throat,  "that  the  man  who  steadily  does  honest, 
thorough  work  in  the  world,  with  no  hope  of  pleasure, 
nobody  to  applaud,  is  the  one  to  whom  /  would  say, 
'Well  done  !5?; 

Ho  knew  what  it  cost  the  dumb,  reserved  woman,  with 
her  dread  of  intermeddling  in  the  lives  of  others,  to  put 
out  her  hand  thus  to  him,  but  he  answered  her  only  by 
a  quick  grateful  smile.  In  her  zeal  her  whole  counte 
nance  was  trembling,  and  the  water  stood  in  her  eyes. 
Seeing  this,  he  turned  away  from  her. 

"I — I  have  wished  to  say  this  to  you  for  a  long  time. 
I  want  you  to  see  yourself — what  these  years  were — how 
well  done  the  work  has  been.  You  have  no  mother,  no 
body  to  tell  you.  I  want'  you  to  take  comfort  again  in 
the  world.  It  is  a  good,  beautiful  world,  Jack." 

He  looked  over  the  crimson  sky,  and  the  sea  below, 
and  turned  to  her,  their  light  reflected  in  his  eyes. 

rfYou  have  hosts  of  friends,  too :  sincere,  cultured 
men  and  women ;  you  can  find  such  friends  everywhere  : 
the  world  is  full  of  them." 


322  JOHN   ANDKOSS. 

He  nodded  again  slowly,  a  tender,  fine  smile  on  his 
face.  She  took  fresh  courage  from  it,  and,  after  a  mo 
ment's  pause,  went  on  desperately. 

"There  are  lovely  women  in  it,  too;  sweet,  genuine 
girls,  who  would  love  you  as  few  men  can  be  loved.  If 

you  had  a  home  now,  Jack,  and — and Indeed,  you 

must  forgive  me.  It  has  seemed  so  long  as  if  you  were 
my  brother,  and  Clay  and  I  being  so  happy — and  Tom 

and  all "  and  there  she  began  to  cry,  and  Andross 

took  her  hand  in  his  for  a  moment,  and  then  walked 
away  from  her  across  the  sands,  blushing  like  a  young- 
girl. 

The  fancy  of  a  fresh,  real  love  which  might  be  waiting 
for  him  somewhere,  was  rare  and  strangely  sweet  to  himu 

There  was  a  sudden  outburst  of  noise  in  the  quiet 
evening,  half  laughter  and  half  shrieks  of  terror.  A 
little  boat,  in  which  were  a  woman  and  two  or  three  men, 
had  been  carried  out  a  few  feet  too  far  beyond  the  surf. 

Isabel  came  up  to  Andross,  and  they  both  looked  on 
amused,  and  glad  of  the  trifle,  too,  on  which  to  turn  away 
from  the  gravity  of  their  last  words.  ' '  There  is  no  dan 
ger,"  said  Jack.  "  Ten  strokes  of  the  oar  should  bring 
them  in.  But  they  do  not  know  how  to  give  the  strokes, 
apparently. " 

The  woman's  voice  rose  just  then — a  shrill  little  pipe. 

"  It  is  Anna  !"  cried  Andross.     "  Isabel,  it  is  Anna  !" 

He  ran  toward  the  beach,  throwing  off  his  coat  and 
jacket  as  he  went. 

"  She  is  perfectly  safe,"  said  Bell,  coldly,  trying  to 
hold  him. 

But  he  had  plunged  into  the  surf,  and  was  swimming 
toward  her. 

"  The  creature  is  the  old,  sweet,  fair  Anna  to  him,  and 
always  will  be,"  said  Isabel,  despairingly,  watching  his 
headlong  haste  to  reach  the  boat.  She  had  no  other  cause 
for  anxiety.  Andross  was  an  expert  swimmer — the  boat 
within  easy  reach  ;  but  owing  to  Anna's  hysteric  struggles 
or  Ware's  awkwardness  in  steering,  the  little  vessel  turned 
over, and  in  a  minute  they  were  all  struggling  in  the  water. 

Ware  and  his  companion  reached  the  shore  almost 
without  effort.  Anna  was  sucked  under  a  current,  and 
carried  out  beyond  the  surf. 


JOHX   AKDEOSS. 

"  Jack  ! "  she  cried  as  she  rose.     "  Oh  Jack,  save  me  !" 

His  strength  had  begun  to  give  way  before  lie  reached 
her  •  if  she  had  been  tne  old  Anna,  fairy-like  in  size  and 
proportion,  he  could  have  brought  her  111  on  the  tide  with 
easp-  but  she  was  a  heavy  dead  weight;  recovering 
strength  from  time  to  time,  only  to  struggle  and  drag 
him  farther  down. 

Ware  ran  wildly  up  and  down  the  shore>  shouting  out 
directions  and  orders. 

"I  wish  she  had  died  in  her  cradle!"  said  Isabel, 
with  white  lips  watching  Jack's  strokes  grow  more  feeble. 

Ware,  with  his  friend,  waded  cautiously  out  at  last  to 
be  ready  to  receive  her.  The  heavy  incoming  wave  lifted 
Andross  at  the  moment,  and  dashed  him  against  the 
upturned  boat.  His  hold  of  the  woman  loosened,  his 
arms  relaxed,  and  were  washed  to  and  fro  by  the  water. 
He  was  stunned  and  senseless ;  but  the  wave  drove  her 
within  reach  of  her  husband,  who  dragged  her  in ;  and 
after  he  had  given  a  vigorous  roll  or  two,  she  staggered 
to  her  feet.  Ware  and  the  other  mm  would  have  re 
mained  to  help  Andross,  if  help  were  possible.  But  Anna 
cried  and  wailed  so  wildly,  sinking  helpless  on  the  sand,  - 
that  they  were  obliged  to  support  her  between  them,  and 
took  her  up  the  baach. 

"Ugh— h  !"  she  shivered,  "I  am  sure  I  shall  die  be 
fore  we  reach  the  house  !  Let  us  hurry  and  get  some  dry 
clothes.  I'm  afraid  you'll  have  a  wretched  cold,  Julius, 
dear.  I'm  afraid  that  poor  Andross  is  drowned.  He 
always  was  the  unluckiest  creature  !" 

The  breakers  rolled  in  again  and  again  before  they 
brought  him  within  Isabel's  reach.  She  drew  him,  with 
the  help  of  the  wave,  up  on  the  beach,  and  then  tried  to 
turn  him  on  his  side.  But  he  was  too  heavy  a  weight  for 
her,  even  in  the  force  of  her  terror,  to  move.  She  stopped 
one  breathless  moment,  and  then,  praying  to  God  as  she 
ran,  darted  up  the  beach  for  help. 

He  opened  his  eyes  presently,  and  looked  up  the  stretch 
of  yellow  sand.  Anna  was  still  in  sight,  wet  and  broad- 
backed,  clinging  to  her  husband,  and  leaving  him  un 
noticed,  to  die  or  live. 

"  Poor  little  thing  !  She  weighs  two  hundred  pounds  !" 
thought  Jack,  with  an  inward  laugh,  and,  oddly  enough, 


324  JOH^'   AXDROSS. 


for  the  first  time,  he  saw  the  woman  as  she^vas  in  soul 
as  well  as  body,  and  in  that  moment  her  hold  on  him  was 
gone  forever.  * 

There  was  a  sharp  pain  in  his  chest,  his  breath  came 
and  went  in  spasms. 
Was  this  death  ? 

The  tide  flowed  in  with  a  dull,  constant  murmur,  but 
there  was  no  other  answer.  Jack,  as  always,  needed  a 
human  voice — a  human  hand  to  touch. 

The  sea,  the  beautiful  world  he  had  loved  differently 
from  other  men,  were  strangely  quiet  in  the  hush  of 
evening  —  the  heaven  close  overhead  more  quiet  still. 
Must  he  go — now  ?  There  were  other  lives  to  live  in  the 

Hereafter,  out  of  sight  of  this  reddened  sunset  sky 

he  did  not  forget  that. 

He  had  thought  out  many  truths  in  these  later,  lonely 
years,  unknown  even  to  Isabel,  and  made  them  real  to 
himself.  He  could  go  now  willingly,  like  a  child,  hold 
ing  his  Master's  hand.  It  would  only  be  Jack  Andross 
beginning  his  life  again  beyond,  with  the  same  God  above 
him. 

But,  oh  God,  if  he  only  could  live ! 
He  knew  this  world  :  he  was  used  to  it.  He  thought 
in  that  minute  of  all  the  people  he  loved :  of  his  old 
books,  of  a  queer  bric-a-brac  shop  he  meant  to  explore 
next  week ;  of  pleasant,  shady  places  where  he  and  Tom. 
had  gone  fishing  together. 

He  was  so  strong  and  alive ;  to  die  now — in  the  vigour 
of  his  youth  ?  Somewhere,  as  Isabel  had  said,  there 
might  be  a  home  of  his  own,  and  a  woman  who  would 

love  him,  as  no  other  had  done 

There  were  Isabel  and  Braddock,  and  the  old  colonel, 
running  toward  him— and  little  Tom  far  behind.  He 
raised  his  head  and  tried  to  shout  "  Tom  !': 

He  knew  that  if  he  could  only  bear  it  until  the  boy 
should  reach  him,  he  would  live. 
Could  he  bear  it  ? 

Meanwhile  the  tide  flowed  steadily  inward,  but  gave 
no  answer. 


BERK "1"11 


